Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Manipulating Soft Keyboards

ABSTRACT

A method includes, at an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface: concurrently displaying a first text entry area and an unsplit keyboard on the display; detecting a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface; and, in response to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface, replacing the unsplit keyboard with an integrated input area. The integrated input area includes a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portion with a right side of the split keyboard, and a center portion in between the left portion and the right portion.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/410,862, filed Nov. 5, 2010, entitled “Device, Method, andGraphical User Interface for Manipulating Soft Keyboard,” which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

This application is also related to the following: (1) U.S. applicationSer. No. ______, filed ______, entitled “Device, Method, and GraphicalUser Interface for Manipulating Soft Keyboards,” (Attorney Docket No.P9739US1/63266-5299US); (2) U.S. application Ser. No. ______, filed______, entitled “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface forManipulating Soft Keyboards,” (Attorney Docket No.P9740US1/63266-5300US); (3) U.S. application Ser. No. ______, filed______, entitled “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface forManipulating Soft Keyboards,” (Attorney Docket No.P9741US1/63266-5301US); (4) U.S. application Ser. No. ______, filed______, entitled “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface forManipulating Soft Keyboards,” (Attorney Docket No.P9742US1/63266-5302US); (5) U.S. application Ser. No. ______, filed______, entitled “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface forManipulating Soft Keyboards,” (Attorney Docket No.P9743US1/63266-5303US); (6) U.S. application Ser. No. ______, filed______, entitled “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface forManipulating Soft Keyboards,” (Attorney Docket No.P9746US1/63266-5304US); and (7) U.S. application Ser. No. ______, filed______, entitled “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface forManipulating Soft Keyboards,” (Attorney Docket No.P9740US2/63266-5362US), which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This relates generally to electronic devices with touch-sensitivesurfaces, including but not limited to electronic devices withtouch-sensitive surfaces that control a soft keyboard on a display.

BACKGROUND

The use of touch-sensitive surfaces as input devices for computers andother electronic computing devices has increased significantly in recentyears. Exemplary touch-sensitive surfaces include touch pads and touchscreen displays. Such surfaces are widely used to manipulate userinterface objects on a display.

Exemplary user interface objects include soft keyboards. Exemplarymanipulations include selecting a soft keyboard, adjusting the positionand/or size of the soft keyboard, and activating keys in the softkeyboard. A user may need to perform such manipulations on softkeyboards in a file management program (e.g., Finder from Apple Inc. ofCupertino, Calif.), an image management application (e.g., Aperture oriPhoto from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a digital content (e.g.,videos and music) management application (e.g., iTunes from Apple Inc.of Cupertino, Calif.), a drawing application, a presentation application(e.g., Keynote from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a word processingapplication (e.g., Pages from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), awebsite creation application (e.g., iWeb from Apple Inc. of Cupertino,Calif.), a disk authoring application (e.g., iDVD from Apple Inc. ofCupertino, Calif.), or a spreadsheet application (e.g., Numbers fromApple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.).

But existing methods for performing these manipulations are cumbersomeand inefficient. For example, two-thumb typing on an unsplit softkeyboard on a tablet-sized portable device while a user is holding thedevice is tedious and creates a significant cognitive burden on theuser. In addition, existing methods take longer than necessary, therebywasting energy. This latter consideration is particularly important inbattery-operated devices.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, there is a need for electronic devices with faster, moreefficient methods and interfaces for manipulating soft keyboards. Suchmethods and interfaces may complement or replace conventional methodsfor manipulating soft keyboards. Such methods and interfaces reduce thecognitive burden on a user and produce a more efficient human-machineinterface. For battery-operated devices, such methods and interfacesconserve power and increase the time between battery charges.

The above deficiencies and other problems associated with userinterfaces for electronic devices with touch-sensitive surfaces arereduced or eliminated by the disclosed devices. In some embodiments, thedevice is a desktop computer. In some embodiments, the device isportable (e.g., a notebook computer, tablet computer, or handhelddevice). In some embodiments, the device has a touchpad. In someembodiments, the device has a touch-sensitive display (also known as a“touch screen” or “touch screen display”). In some embodiments, thedevice has a graphical user interface (GUI), one or more processors,memory and one or more modules, programs or sets of instructions storedin the memory for performing multiple functions. In some embodiments,the user interacts with the GUI primarily through finger contacts andgestures on the touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, thefunctions may include image editing, drawing, presenting, wordprocessing, website creating, disk authoring, spreadsheet making, gameplaying, telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging,workout support, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing,digital music playing, and/or digital video playing. Executableinstructions for performing these functions may be included in anon-transitory computer readable storage medium or other computerprogram product configured for execution by one or more processors.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Themethod includes: concurrently displaying a first text entry area and anunsplit keyboard on the display; detecting a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface; and, in response to detecting the gesture onthe touch-sensitive surface, replacing the unsplit keyboard with anintegrated input area. The integrated input area includes: a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard; and a center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Themethod includes: displaying a first keyboard on the display, the firstkeyboard comprising a first plurality of keys; detecting a keyactivation gesture at a first time at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to a location of a first key in the firstkeyboard; in response to detecting the key activation gesture at thefirst time, activating the first key; detecting one or more contacts onthe touch-sensitive surface at a second time after the first time, theone or more contacts corresponding to a keyboard selection gesture; and,in response to detecting the one or more contacts that correspond to thekeyboard selection gesture at the second time after the first time:replacing the first keyboard with a second keyboard when the second timeexceeds a predefined period of time after the first time; andmaintaining display of the first keyboard when the second time is lessthan the predefined period of time after the first time.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Themethod includes: concurrently displaying a first text entry area and anintegrated input area on the display, the integrated input areaincluding: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; a rightportion with a right side of the split keyboard; and a center portion inbetween the left portion and the right portion; detecting a firstcontact on the touch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds tothe center portion of the integrated input area; detecting movement ofthe first contact along the touch-sensitive surface; in response todetecting movement of the first contact along the touch-sensitivesurface, moving the integrated input area in accordance with themovement of the first contact when the movement of the first contactexceeds a first movement threshold; detecting a second contact, distinctfrom the first contact, on the touch-sensitive surface at a locationthat corresponds to the split keyboard; detecting movement of the secondcontact along the touch-sensitive surface; and, in response to detectingmovement of the second contact along the touch-sensitive surface, movingthe integrated input area in accordance with the movement of the secondcontact when the movement of the second contact exceeds a secondmovement threshold, the second movement threshold being greater than thefirst movement threshold.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Themethod includes: concurrently displaying on the display an applicationcontent area with a first size, and an input area with a keyboard, theinput area being adjacent to and separate from the application contentarea with the first size, the input area being at a bottom of thedisplay; detecting a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface; in responseto detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface: moving theinput area away from the bottom of the display over the applicationcontent area; and increasing the application content area to a secondsize larger than the first size.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Themethod includes: concurrently displaying a text entry area, a left sideof a split keyboard, and a right side of a split keyboard, the left sideof the split keyboard including a plurality of rows of keys and theright side of the split keyboard including a corresponding plurality ofrows of keys; detecting a gesture at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to a predefined area adjacent to and to theright of a rightmost key in a respective row of the left side of thesplit keyboard, wherein the rightmost key in the respective row of theleft side of the split keyboard is unique to the left side of the splitkeyboard; and, in response to detecting the gesture at the location onthe touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the predefined areaadjacent to and to the right of the rightmost key in the respective rowof the left side of the split keyboard, entering in the text entry areaa character that corresponds to a leftmost key in a correspondingrespective row of the right side of the split keyboard.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Themethod includes: concurrently displaying a first text entry area and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including: a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard; and a center portion with a secondtext entry area, the center portion in between the left portion and theright portion; detecting a gesture at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to a location of a character key in the splitkeyboard; and, in response to detecting the gesture at the location onthe touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the location of thecharacter key in the split keyboard, inputting and concurrentlydisplaying the corresponding character in the first text entry area andthe second text entry area on the display.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Themethod includes: concurrently displaying on the display an applicationcontent area that includes one or more text entry areas, and an inputarea with a keyboard that is displayed over the application contentarea; detecting a drag gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at alocation that corresponds to the input area on the display; in responseto detecting the drag gesture, moving the input area on the display inaccordance with the drag gesture; detecting a flick gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to the input areaon the display; and, in response to detecting the flick gesture, movingthe input area on the display with inertia in accordance with the flickgesture such that the input area comes to rest at a location adjacent toand just below a text entry area in the application content area.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Themethod includes: concurrently displaying on the display a first textentry area, and an integrated input area, the integrated input areaincluding: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; a rightportion with a right side of the split keyboard; and a center portion inbetween the left portion and the right portion; detecting a first inputon the touch-sensitive surface; in response to detecting the firstinput, entering a reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area;and, while in the reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area:detecting a second input by a first thumb and/or a second thumb; inresponse to detecting the second input, adjusting the size of at leastone of the left side and the right side of the split keyboard in theintegrated input area; detecting a third input; and, in response todetecting the third input, exiting the reconfiguration mode for theintegrated input area.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, memory, andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include instructions for: concurrently displaying a firsttext entry area and an unsplit keyboard on the display; detecting agesture on the touch-sensitive surface; and, in response to detectingthe gesture on the touch-sensitive surface, replacing the unsplitkeyboard with an integrated input area, the integrated input areaincluding: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; a rightportion with a right side of the split keyboard; and a center portion inbetween the left portion and the right portion.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, memory, andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include instructions for: displaying a first keyboard onthe display, the first keyboard comprising a first plurality of keys;detecting a key activation gesture at a first time at a location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a location of a first key inthe first keyboard; in response to detecting the key activation gestureat the first time, activating the first key; detecting one or morecontacts on the touch-sensitive surface at a second time after the firsttime, the one or more contacts corresponding to a keyboard selectiongesture; and, in response to detecting the one or more contacts thatcorrespond to the keyboard selection gesture at the second time afterthe first time: replacing the first keyboard with a second keyboard whenthe second time exceeds a predefined period of time after the firsttime; and maintaining display of the first keyboard when the second timeis less than the predefined period of time after the first time.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, memory, andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include instructions for: concurrently displaying a firsttext entry area and an integrated input area on the display, theintegrated input area including: a left portion with a left side of asplit keyboard; a right portion with a right side of the split keyboard;and a center portion in between the left portion and the right portion;detecting a first contact on the touch-sensitive surface at a locationthat corresponds to the center portion of the integrated input area;detecting movement of the first contact along the touch-sensitivesurface; in response to detecting movement of the first contact alongthe touch-sensitive surface, moving the integrated input area inaccordance with the movement of the first contact when the movement ofthe first contact exceeds a first movement threshold; detecting a secondcontact, distinct from the first contact, on the touch-sensitive surfaceat a location that corresponds to the split keyboard; detecting movementof the second contact along the touch-sensitive surface; and, inresponse to detecting movement of the second contact along thetouch-sensitive surface, moving the integrated input area in accordancewith the movement of the second contact when the movement of the secondcontact exceeds a second movement threshold, the second movementthreshold being greater than the first movement threshold.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, memory, andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include instructions for: concurrently displaying on thedisplay an application content area with a first size, and an input areawith a keyboard, the input area being adjacent to and separate from theapplication content area with the first size, the input area being at abottom of the display; detecting a gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface; in response to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface: moving the input area away from the bottom of the display overthe application content area; and increasing the application contentarea to a second size larger than the first size.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, memory, andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include instructions for: concurrently displaying a textentry area, a left side of a split keyboard, and a right side of a splitkeyboard, the left side of the split keyboard including a plurality ofrows of keys and the right side of the split keyboard including acorresponding plurality of rows of keys; detecting a gesture at alocation on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a predefinedarea adjacent to and to the right of a rightmost key in a respective rowof the left side of the split keyboard, wherein the rightmost key in therespective row of the left side of the split keyboard is unique to theleft side of the split keyboard; and, in response to detecting thegesture at the location on the touch-sensitive surface that correspondsto the predefined area adjacent to and to the right of the rightmost keyin the respective row of the left side of the split keyboard, enteringin the text entry area a character that corresponds to a leftmost key ina corresponding respective row of the right side of the split keyboard.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, memory, andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include instructions for: concurrently displaying a firsttext entry area and an integrated input area, the integrated input areaincluding: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; a rightportion with a right side of the split keyboard; and a center portionwith a second text entry area, the center portion in between the leftportion and the right portion; detecting a gesture at a location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a location of a characterkey in the split keyboard; and, in response to detecting the gesture atthe location on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to thelocation of the character key in the split keyboard, inputting andconcurrently displaying the corresponding character in the first textentry area and the second text entry area on the display.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, memory, andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include instructions for: concurrently displaying on thedisplay an application content area that includes one or more text entryareas, and an input area with a keyboard that is displayed over theapplication content area; detecting a drag gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to the input areaon the display; in response to detecting the drag gesture, moving theinput area on the display in accordance with the drag gesture; detectinga flick gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at a location thatcorresponds to the input area on the display; and, in response todetecting the flick gesture, moving the input area on the display withinertia in accordance with the flick gesture such that the input areacomes to rest at a location adjacent to and just below a text entry areain the application content area.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, memory, andone or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one ormore programs include instructions for: concurrently displaying on thedisplay a first text entry area, and an integrated input area, theintegrated input area including: a left portion with a left side of asplit keyboard; a right portion with a right side of the split keyboard;and a center portion in between the left portion and the right portion;detecting a first input on the touch-sensitive surface; in response todetecting the first input, entering a reconfiguration mode for theintegrated input area; and, while in the reconfiguration mode for theintegrated input area: detecting a second input by a first thumb and/ora second thumb; in response to detecting the second input, adjusting thesize of at least one of the left side and the right side of the splitkeyboard in the integrated input area; detecting a third input; and, inresponse to detecting the third input, exiting the reconfiguration modefor the integrated input area.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on anelectronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, a memory,and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in thememory includes concurrently displayed: a first text entry area and anunsplit keyboard; wherein: in response to detection of a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface, the unsplit keyboard is replaced with anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including: a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard; and a center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on anelectronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, a memory,and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in thememory includes a first keyboard, the first keyboard comprising a firstplurality of keys; wherein: a key activation gesture is detected at afirst time at a location on the touch-sensitive surface that correspondsto a location of a first key in the first keyboard; in response todetecting the key activation gesture at the first time, the first key isactivated; one or more contacts are detected on the touch-sensitivesurface at a second time after the first time, the one or more contactscorresponding to a keyboard selection gesture; and, in response todetecting the one or more contacts that correspond to the keyboardselection gesture at the second time after the first time: the firstkeyboard is replaced with a second keyboard when the second time exceedsa predefined period of time after the first time; and display of thefirst keyboard is maintained when the second time is less than thepredefined period of time after the first time.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on anelectronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, a memory,and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in thememory includes concurrently displayed: a first text entry area and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including: a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard; and a center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion; wherein: a first contact is detectedon the touch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to thecenter portion of the integrated input area; movement of the firstcontact is detected along the touch-sensitive surface; in response todetecting movement of the first contact along the touch-sensitivesurface, the integrated input area is moved in accordance with themovement of the first contact when the movement of the first contactexceeds a first movement threshold; a second contact, distinct from thefirst contact, is detected on the touch-sensitive surface at a locationthat corresponds to the split keyboard; movement of the second contactis detected along the touch-sensitive surface; and, in response todetecting movement of the second contact along the touch-sensitivesurface, the integrated input area is moved in accordance with themovement of the second contact when the movement of the second contactexceeds a second movement threshold, the second movement threshold beinggreater than the first movement threshold.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on anelectronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, a memory,and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in thememory includes concurrently displayed: an application content area witha first size, and an input area with a keyboard, the input area beingadjacent to and separate from the application content area with thefirst size, the input area being at a bottom of the display; wherein: agesture is detected on the touch-sensitive surface; in response todetecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface: the input area ismoved away from the bottom of the display over the application contentarea; and the application content area is increased to a second sizelarger than the first size.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on anelectronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, a memory,and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in thememory includes concurrently displayed: a text entry area, a left sideof a split keyboard, and a right side of a split keyboard, the left sideof the split keyboard including a plurality of rows of keys and theright side of the split keyboard including a corresponding plurality ofrows of keys; wherein: a gesture is detected at a location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a predefined area adjacentto and to the right of a rightmost key in a respective row of the leftside of the split keyboard, wherein the rightmost key in the respectiverow of the left side of the split keyboard is unique to the left side ofthe split keyboard; and, in response to detecting the gesture at thelocation on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to thepredefined area adjacent to and to the right of the rightmost key in therespective row of the left side of the split keyboard, a character thatcorresponds to a leftmost key in a corresponding respective row of theright side of the split keyboard is entered in the text entry area.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on anelectronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, a memory,and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in thememory includes concurrently displayed: a first text entry area, and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including: a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard; and a center portion with a secondtext entry area, the center portion in between the left portion and theright portion; wherein: a gesture is detected at a location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a location of a characterkey in the split keyboard; and, in response to detecting the gesture atthe location on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to thelocation of the character key in the split keyboard, the correspondingcharacter is inputted and concurrently displayed in the first text entryarea and the second text entry area on the display.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on anelectronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, a memory,and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in thememory includes concurrently displayed: an application content area thatincludes one or more text entry areas, and an input area with a keyboardthat is displayed over the application content area; wherein: a draggesture is detected on the touch-sensitive surface at a location thatcorresponds to the input area on the display; in response to detectingthe drag gesture, the input area is moved on the display in accordancewith the drag gesture; a flick gesture is detected on thetouch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to the input areaon the display; and, in response to detecting the flick gesture, theinput area is moved on the display with inertia in accordance with theflick gesture such that the input area comes to rest at a locationadjacent to and just below a text entry area in the application contentarea.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on anelectronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, a memory,and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in thememory includes concurrently displayed: a first text entry area, and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including: a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard; and a center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion; wherein: a first input is detectedon the touch-sensitive surface; in response to detecting the firstinput, a reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area is entered;and, while in the reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area: asecond input by a first thumb and/or a second thumb is detected; inresponse to detecting the second input, the size of at least one of theleft side and the right side of the split keyboard in the integratedinput area is adjusted; a third input is detected; and, in response todetecting the third input, the reconfiguration mode for the integratedinput area is exited.

In accordance with some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium has stored therein instructions which when executed by anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, causethe device to: concurrently display a first text entry area and anunsplit keyboard on the display; detect a gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface; and, in response to detecting the gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface, replace the unsplit keyboard with an integratedinput area, the integrated input area including: a left portion with aleft side of a split keyboard; a right portion with a right side of thesplit keyboard; and a center portion in between the left portion and theright portion.

In accordance with some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium has stored therein instructions which when executed by anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, causethe device to: display a first keyboard on the display, the firstkeyboard comprising a first plurality of keys; detect a key activationgesture at a first time at a location on the touch-sensitive surfacethat corresponds to a location of a first key in the first keyboard; inresponse to detecting the key activation gesture at the first time,activate the first key; detect one or more contacts on thetouch-sensitive surface at a second time after the first time, the oneor more contacts corresponding to a keyboard selection gesture; and, inresponse to detecting the one or more contacts that correspond to thekeyboard selection gesture at the second time after the first time:replace the first keyboard with a second keyboard when the second timeexceeds a predefined period of time after the first time; and maintaindisplay of the first keyboard when the second time is less than thepredefined period of time after the first time.

In accordance with some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium has stored therein instructions which when executed by anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, causethe device to: concurrently display a first text entry area and anintegrated input area on the display, the integrated input areaincluding: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; a rightportion with a right side of the split keyboard; and a center portion inbetween the left portion and the right portion; detect a first contacton the touch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to thecenter portion of the integrated input area; detect movement of thefirst contact along the touch-sensitive surface; in response todetecting movement of the first contact along the touch-sensitivesurface, move the integrated input area in accordance with the movementof the first contact when the movement of the first contact exceeds afirst movement threshold; detect a second contact, distinct from thefirst contact, on the touch-sensitive surface at a location thatcorresponds to the split keyboard; detect movement of the second contactalong the touch-sensitive surface; and, in response to detectingmovement of the second contact along the touch-sensitive surface, movethe integrated input area in accordance with the movement of the secondcontact when the movement of the second contact exceeds a secondmovement threshold, the second movement threshold being greater than thefirst movement threshold.

In accordance with some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium has stored therein instructions which when executed by anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, causethe device to: concurrently display on the display an applicationcontent area with a first size, and an input area with a keyboard, theinput area being adjacent to and separate from the application contentarea with the first size, the input area being at a bottom of thedisplay; detect a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface; in response todetecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface: move the inputarea away from the bottom of the display over the application contentarea; and increase the application content area to a second size largerthan the first size.

In accordance with some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium has stored therein instructions which when executed by anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, causethe device to: concurrently display a text entry area, a left side of asplit keyboard, and a right side of a split keyboard, the left side ofthe split keyboard including a plurality of rows of keys and the rightside of the split keyboard including a corresponding plurality of rowsof keys; detect a gesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surfacethat corresponds to a predefined area adjacent to and to the right of arightmost key in a respective row of the left side of the splitkeyboard, wherein the rightmost key in the respective row of the leftside of the split keyboard is unique to the left side of the splitkeyboard; and, in response to detecting the gesture at the location onthe touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the predefined areaadjacent to and to the right of the rightmost key in the respective rowof the left side of the split keyboard, enter in the text entry area acharacter that corresponds to a leftmost key in a correspondingrespective row of the right side of the split keyboard.

In accordance with some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium has stored therein instructions which when executed by anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, causethe device to: concurrently display a first text entry area and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including: a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard; and a center portion with a secondtext entry area, the center portion in between the left portion and theright portion; detect a gesture at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to a location of a character key in the splitkeyboard; and, in response to detecting the gesture at the location onthe touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the location of thecharacter key in the split keyboard, input and concurrently display thecorresponding character in the first text entry area and the second textentry area on the display.

In accordance with some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium has stored therein instructions which when executed by anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, causethe device to: concurrently display on the display an applicationcontent area that includes one or more text entry areas, and an inputarea with a keyboard that is displayed over the application contentarea; detect a drag gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at a locationthat corresponds to the input area on the display; in response todetecting the drag gesture, move the input area on the display inaccordance with the drag gesture; detect a flick gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to the input areaon the display; and, in response to detecting the flick gesture, movethe input area on the display with inertia in accordance with the flickgesture such that the input area comes to rest at a location adjacent toand just below a text entry area in the application content area.

In accordance with some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium has stored therein instructions which when executed by anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, causethe device to: concurrently display on the display a first text entryarea, and an integrated input area, the integrated input area including:a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portionwith a right side of the split keyboard; and a center portion in betweenthe left portion and the right portion; detect a first input on thetouch-sensitive surface; in response to detecting the first input, entera reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area; and, while in thereconfiguration mode for the integrated input area: detect a secondinput by a first thumb and/or a second thumb; in response to detectingthe second input, adjust the size of at least one of the left side andthe right side of the split keyboard in the integrated input area;detect a third input; and, in response to detecting the third input,exit the reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes: adisplay; a touch-sensitive surface; means for concurrently displaying afirst text entry area and an unsplit keyboard on the display; means fordetecting a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface; and, means for, inresponse to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface,replacing the unsplit keyboard with an integrated input area, theintegrated input area including: a left portion with a left side of asplit keyboard; a right portion with a right side of the split keyboard;and a center portion in between the left portion and the right portion.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes: adisplay; a touch-sensitive surface; means for displaying a firstkeyboard on the display, the first keyboard comprising a first pluralityof keys; means for detecting a key activation gesture at a first time ata location on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a locationof a first key in the first keyboard; means for, in response todetecting the key activation gesture at the first time, activating thefirst key; means for detecting one or more contacts on thetouch-sensitive surface at a second time after the first time, the oneor more contacts corresponding to a keyboard selection gesture; and, inresponse to detecting the one or more contacts that correspond to thekeyboard selection gesture at the second time after the first time:means for replacing the first keyboard with a second keyboard when thesecond time exceeds a predefined period of time after the first time;and means for maintaining display of the first keyboard when the secondtime is less than the predefined period of time after the first time.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes: adisplay; a touch-sensitive surface; means for concurrently displaying afirst text entry area and an integrated input area on the display, theintegrated input area including: a left portion with a left side of asplit keyboard; a right portion with a right side of the split keyboard;and a center portion in between the left portion and the right portion;means for detecting a first contact on the touch-sensitive surface at alocation that corresponds to the center portion of the integrated inputarea; means for detecting movement of the first contact along thetouch-sensitive surface; means for, in response to detecting movement ofthe first contact along the touch-sensitive surface, moving theintegrated input area in accordance with the movement of the firstcontact when the movement of the first contact exceeds a first movementthreshold; means for detecting a second contact, distinct from the firstcontact, on the touch-sensitive surface at a location that correspondsto the split keyboard; means for detecting movement of the secondcontact along the touch-sensitive surface; and, means for, in responseto detecting movement of the second contact along the touch-sensitivesurface, moving the integrated input area in accordance with themovement of the second contact when the movement of the second contactexceeds a second movement threshold, the second movement threshold beinggreater than the first movement threshold.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes: adisplay; a touch-sensitive surface; means for concurrently displaying onthe display an application content area with a first size, and an inputarea with a keyboard, the input area being adjacent to and separate fromthe application content area with the first size, the input area beingat a bottom of the display; means for detecting a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface; in response to detecting the gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface: means for moving the input area away from thebottom of the display over the application content area; and means forincreasing the application content area to a second size larger than thefirst size.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes: adisplay; a touch-sensitive surface; means for concurrently displaying atext entry area, a left side of a split keyboard, and a right side of asplit keyboard, the left side of the split keyboard including aplurality of rows of keys and the right side of the split keyboardincluding a corresponding plurality of rows of keys; means for detectinga gesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surface that correspondsto a predefined area adjacent to and to the right of a rightmost key ina respective row of the left side of the split keyboard, wherein therightmost key in the respective row of the left side of the splitkeyboard is unique to the left side of the split keyboard; and, meansfor, in response to detecting the gesture at the location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the predefined area adjacentto and to the right of the rightmost key in the respective row of theleft side of the split keyboard, entering in the text entry area acharacter that corresponds to a leftmost key in a correspondingrespective row of the right side of the split keyboard.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes: adisplay; a touch-sensitive surface; means for concurrently displaying afirst text entry area and an integrated input area, the integrated inputarea including: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; aright portion with a right side of the split keyboard; and a centerportion with a second text entry area, the center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion; means for detecting a gesture at alocation on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a locationof a character key in the split keyboard; and, means for in response todetecting the gesture at the location on the touch-sensitive surfacethat corresponds to the location of the character key in the splitkeyboard, inputting and concurrently displaying the correspondingcharacter in the first text entry area and the second text entry area onthe display.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes: adisplay; a touch-sensitive surface; means for concurrently displaying onthe display an application content area that includes one or more textentry areas, and an input area with a keyboard that is displayed overthe application content area; means for detecting a drag gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to the input areaon the display; means for, in response to detecting the drag gesture,moving the input area on the display in accordance with the draggesture; means for detecting a flick gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface at a location that corresponds to the input area on the display;and, means for, in response to detecting the flick gesture, moving theinput area on the display with inertia in accordance with the flickgesture such that the input area comes to rest at a location adjacent toand just below a text entry area in the application content area.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes: adisplay; a touch-sensitive surface; means for concurrently displaying onthe display a first text entry area, and an integrated input area, theintegrated input area including: a left portion with a left side of asplit keyboard; a right portion with a right side of the split keyboard;and a center portion in between the left portion and the right portion;means for detecting a first input on the touch-sensitive surface; meansfor in response to detecting the first input, entering a reconfigurationmode for the integrated input area; and, while in the reconfigurationmode for the integrated input area: means for detecting a second inputby a first thumb and/or a second thumb; means for, in response todetecting the second input, adjusting the size of at least one of theleft side and the right side of the split keyboard in the integratedinput area; means for detecting a third input; and, means for, inresponse to detecting the third input, exiting the reconfiguration modefor the integrated input area.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface includes: means for concurrently displaying a first text entryarea and an unsplit keyboard on the display; means for detecting agesture on the touch-sensitive surface; and, means for, in response todetecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface, replacing theunsplit keyboard with an integrated input area, the integrated inputarea including: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; aright portion with a right side of the split keyboard; and a centerportion in between the left portion and the right portion.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface includes: means for displaying a first keyboard on the display,the first keyboard comprising a first plurality of keys; means fordetecting a key activation gesture at a first time at a location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a location of a first key inthe first keyboard; means for in response to detecting the keyactivation gesture at the first time, activating the first key; meansfor detecting one or more contacts on the touch-sensitive surface at asecond time after the first time, the one or more contacts correspondingto a keyboard selection gesture; and, in response to detecting the oneor more contacts that correspond to the keyboard selection gesture atthe second time after the first time: means for replacing the firstkeyboard with a second keyboard when the second time exceeds apredefined period of time after the first time; and means formaintaining display of the first keyboard when the second time is lessthan the predefined period of time after the first time.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface includes: means for concurrently displaying a first text entryarea and an integrated input area on the display, the integrated inputarea including: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; aright portion with a right side of the split keyboard; and a centerportion in between the left portion and the right portion; means fordetecting a first contact on the touch-sensitive surface at a locationthat corresponds to the center portion of the integrated input area;means for detecting movement of the first contact along thetouch-sensitive surface; means for, in response to detecting movement ofthe first contact along the touch-sensitive surface, moving theintegrated input area in accordance with the movement of the firstcontact when the movement of the first contact exceeds a first movementthreshold; means for detecting a second contact, distinct from the firstcontact, on the touch-sensitive surface at a location that correspondsto the split keyboard; means for detecting movement of the secondcontact along the touch-sensitive surface; and, means for, in responseto detecting movement of the second contact along the touch-sensitivesurface, moving the integrated input area in accordance with themovement of the second contact when the movement of the second contactexceeds a second movement threshold, the second movement threshold beinggreater than the first movement threshold.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface includes: means for concurrently displaying on the display anapplication content area with a first size, and an input area with akeyboard, the input area being adjacent to and separate from theapplication content area with the first size, the input area being at abottom of the display; means for detecting a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface; in response to detecting the gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface: means for moving the input area away from thebottom of the display over the application content area; and means forincreasing the application content area to a second size larger than thefirst size.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface includes: means for concurrently displaying a text entry area, aleft side of a split keyboard, and a right side of a split keyboard, theleft side of the split keyboard including a plurality of rows of keysand the right side of the split keyboard including a correspondingplurality of rows of keys; means for detecting a gesture at a locationon the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a predefined areaadjacent to and to the right of a rightmost key in a respective row ofthe left side of the split keyboard, wherein the rightmost key in therespective row of the left side of the split keyboard is unique to theleft side of the split keyboard; and, means for in response to detectingthe gesture at the location on the touch-sensitive surface thatcorresponds to the predefined area adjacent to and to the right of therightmost key in the respective row of the left side of the splitkeyboard, entering in the text entry area a character that correspondsto a leftmost key in a corresponding respective row of the right side ofthe split keyboard.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface includes: means for concurrently displaying a first text entryarea and an integrated input area, the integrated input area including:a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard; a right portionwith a right side of the split keyboard; and a center portion with asecond text entry area, the center portion in between the left portionand the right portion; means for detecting a gesture at a location onthe touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a location of acharacter key in the split keyboard; and, means for in response todetecting the gesture at the location on the touch-sensitive surfacethat corresponds to the location of the character key in the splitkeyboard, inputting and concurrently displaying the correspondingcharacter in the first text entry area and the second text entry area onthe display.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface includes: means for concurrently displaying on the display anapplication content area that includes one or more text entry areas, andan input area with a keyboard that is displayed over the applicationcontent area; means for detecting a drag gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface at a location that corresponds to the input area on the display;means for, in response to detecting the drag gesture, moving the inputarea on the display in accordance with the drag gesture; means fordetecting a flick gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at a locationthat corresponds to the input area on the display; and, means for, inresponse to detecting the flick gesture, moving the input area on thedisplay with inertia in accordance with the flick gesture such that theinput area comes to rest at a location adjacent to and just below a textentry area in the application content area.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface includes: means for concurrently displaying on the display afirst text entry area, and an integrated input area, the integratedinput area including: a left portion with a left side of a splitkeyboard; a right portion with a right side of the split keyboard; and acenter portion in between the left portion and the right portion; meansfor detecting a first input on the touch-sensitive surface; means for,in response to detecting the first input, entering a reconfigurationmode for the integrated input area; and, while in the reconfigurationmode for the integrated input area: means for detecting a second inputby a first thumb and/or a second thumb; means for, in response todetecting the second input, adjusting the size of at least one of theleft side and the right side of the split keyboard in the integratedinput area; means for detecting a third input; and, means for, inresponse to detecting the third input, exiting the reconfiguration modefor the integrated input area.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay unit configured to concurrently display a first text entry areaand an unsplit keyboard, a touch-sensitive surface unit configured toreceive user gestures, and a processing unit coupled to the display unitand the touch-sensitive surface unit. The processing unit is configuredto detect a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit, and, inresponse to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit,replace the unsplit keyboard with an integrated input area. Theintegrated input area includes a left portion with a left side of asplit keyboard, a right portion with a right side of the split keyboard,and a center portion in between the left portion and the right portion.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay unit configured to display a first keyboard, the first keyboardincluding a first plurality of keys; a touch-sensitive surface unitconfigured to receive user gestures; and a processing unit coupled tothe display unit and the touch-sensitive surface unit. The processingunit is configured to detect a key activation gesture at a first time ata location on the touch-sensitive surface unit that corresponds to alocation of a first key in the first keyboard; in response to detectingthe key activation gesture at the first time, activate the first key;detect one or more contacts on the touch-sensitive surface unit at asecond time after the first time, the one or more contacts correspondingto a keyboard selection gesture; and in response to detecting the one ormore contacts that correspond to the keyboard selection gesture at thesecond time after the first time: replace the first keyboard with asecond keyboard on the display unit when the second time exceeds apredefined period of time after the first time; and maintain display ofthe first keyboard on the display unit when the second time is less thanthe predefined period of time after the first time.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay unit configured to concurrently display a first text entry areaand an integrated input area, the integrated input area including a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard, and a center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion; a touch-sensitive surface unitconfigured to receive user contacts and movements of the user contacts;and a processing unit coupled to the display unit and thetouch-sensitive surface unit. The processing unit is configured todetect a first contact on the touch-sensitive surface unit at a locationthat corresponds to the center portion of the integrated input area;detect movement of the first contact along the touch-sensitive surfaceunit; in response to detecting the movement of the first contact alongthe touch-sensitive surface unit, move the integrated input area on thedisplay unit in accordance with the movement of the first contact whenthe movement of the first contact exceeds a first movement threshold;detect a second contact, distinct from the first contact, on thetouch-sensitive surface unit at a location that corresponds to the splitkeyboard; detect movement of the second contact along thetouch-sensitive surface unit; and, in response to detecting the movementof the second contact along the touch-sensitive surface unit, move theintegrated input area on the display unit in accordance with themovement of the second contact when the movement of the second contactexceeds a second movement threshold, the second movement threshold beinggreater than the first movement threshold.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay unit configured to concurrently display an application contentarea with a first size, and an input area with a keyboard, the inputarea being adjacent to and separate from the application content areawith the first size, the input area being at a bottom of the displayunit; a touch-sensitive surface unit configured to receive usergestures; and a processing unit coupled to the display unit and thetouch-sensitive surface unit. The processing unit is configured todetect a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit; and, in responseto detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit: move theinput area away from the bottom of the display unit over the applicationcontent area, and increase a size of the application content area to asecond size larger than the first size.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay unit configured to concurrently display a text entry area, aleft side of a split keyboard, and a right side of a split keyboard, theleft side of the split keyboard including a plurality of rows of keysand the right side of the split keyboard including a correspondingplurality of rows of keys; a touch-sensitive surface unit configured toreceive user gestures; and a processing unit coupled to the display unitand the touch-sensitive surface unit. The processing unit is configuredto detect a gesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surface unitthat corresponds to a predefined area adjacent to and to the right of arightmost key in a respective row of the left side of the splitkeyboard; and, in response to detecting the gesture at the location onthe touch-sensitive surface unit that corresponds to the predefined areaadjacent to and to the right of the rightmost key in the respective rowof the left side of the split keyboard, enter in the text entry area acharacter that corresponds to a leftmost key in a correspondingrespective row of the right side of the split keyboard.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay unit configured to concurrently display a first text entry areaand an integrated input area, the integrated input area including a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard, and a center portion with a secondtext entry area, the center portion in between the left portion and theright portion; a touch-sensitive surface unit configured to receive usergestures; and a processing unit coupled to the display unit and thetouch-sensitive surface unit. The processing unit is configured to:detect a gesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surface unit thatcorresponds to a location of a character key in the split keyboard; and,in response to detecting the gesture at the location on thetouch-sensitive surface unit that corresponds to the location of thecharacter key in the split keyboard, input and enable concurrent displayof the corresponding character in the first text entry area and thesecond text entry area on the display unit.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay unit configured to concurrently display an application contentarea that includes one or more text entry areas, and an input area witha keyboard that is displayed over the application content area; atouch-sensitive surface unit configured to receive user gestures; and aprocessing unit coupled to the display unit and the touch-sensitivesurface unit. The processing unit is configured to: detect a draggesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit at a location thatcorresponds to the input area on the display unit; in response todetecting the drag gesture, move the input area on the display unit inaccordance with the drag gesture; detect a flick gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface unit at a location that corresponds to the inputarea on the display unit; and, in response to detecting the flickgesture, move the input area on the display unit with inertia inaccordance with the flick gesture such that the input area comes to restat a location adjacent to and just below a text entry area in theapplication content area.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device includes adisplay unit configured to concurrently display a first text entry area,and an integrated input area, the integrated input area including: aleft portion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portion witha right side of the split keyboard, and a center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion; a touch-sensitive surface unitconfigured to receive user inputs; a processing unit coupled to thedisplay unit and the touch-sensitive surface unit. The processing unitis configured to: detect a first input on the touch-sensitive surfaceunit; in response to detecting the first input, enter a reconfigurationmode for the integrated input area; while in the reconfiguration modefor the integrated input area: detect a second input by a first thumband/or a second thumb; in response to detecting the second input, adjustthe size of at least one of the left side and the right side of thesplit keyboard in the integrated input area; and detect a third input;and, in response to detecting the third input, exit the reconfigurationmode for the integrated input area.

Thus, electronic devices with displays and touch-sensitive surfaces areprovided with faster, more efficient methods and interfaces formanipulating soft keyboards, thereby increasing the effectiveness,efficiency, and user satisfaction with such devices. Such methods andinterfaces may complement or replace conventional methods formanipulating soft keyboards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the aforementioned embodiments of theinvention as well as additional embodiments thereof, reference should bemade to the Description of Embodiments below, in conjunction with thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer tocorresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction devicewith a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screenin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface for a multifunctiondevice with a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the displayin accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5NNN illustrate exemplary user interfaces for manipulating softkeyboards in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 6A-6B are flow diagrams illustrating a method of replacing anunsplit keyboard with an integrated input area in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 7A-7B are flow diagrams illustrating a method of responding to akeyboard selection gesture in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 8A-8B are flow diagrams illustrating a method of moving anintegrated input area in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of moving an input areaand adjusting the size of an application content area in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIGS. 10A-10B are flow diagrams illustrating a method of enteringcharacters with a split soft keyboard in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11D are flow diagrams illustrating a method of using a centerportion of an integrated input area in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 12A-12B are flow diagrams illustrating a method of moving an inputarea that includes a keyboard over an application content area inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 13A-13B are flow diagrams illustrating a method of reconfiguringan integrated input area in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 19 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 20 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 21 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Many electronic devices have graphical user interfaces with softkeyboards for character entry. On a relatively large portable device,such as a tablet computer, typing on an unsplit soft keyboard may befine in certain situations, such as when the computer is resting on asolid surface, but problematic in other situations. For example, unsplitkeyboards are not convenient for typing when both hands are holding ontothe device. Split soft keyboards may be better in these situations. Butthe use of split keyboards for two-thumb typing when both hands areholding onto the device raises new issues that have not been recognizedand/or properly addressed, such as:

-   -   Easily converting between an unsplit keyboard and an integrated        input area that includes a split keyboard;    -   Preventing accidentally changing soft keyboards while typing        (e.g., from an unsplit keyboard to an integrated input area with        a split keyboard, or vice versa);    -   Moving an integrated input area when desired, but preventing        accidental movement of the integrated input area when a user        contact moves during typing with the split keyboard;    -   Moving an input area and adjusting the size of an application        content area to display more of the application;    -   More efficiently entering characters during two-thumb typing        with a split soft keyboard;    -   Using the center portion of an integrated input area to make        character entry faster and more efficient during two-thumb        typing;    -   Moving an input area that includes a keyboard over an        application content area so that the input area is just below a        text entry area in the application; and    -   Easily customizing a split keyboard in an integrated input area        to the size of the user's thumbs.

The embodiments described below address these issues and related issues.

Below, FIGS. 1A-1B, 2, 3, and 14-21 provide a description of exemplarydevices. FIGS. 4A-4B and 5A-5NNN illustrate exemplary user interfacesfor manipulating soft keyboards. FIGS. 6A-6B, 7A-7B, 8A-8B, 9, 10A-10B,11A-11D, 12A-12B, 13A-13B are flow diagrams illustrating methods ofmanipulating soft keyboards. The user interfaces in FIGS. 5A-5NNN areused to illustrate the processes in FIGS. 6A-6B, 7A-7B, 8A-8B, 9,10A-10B, 11A-11D, 12A-12B, 13A-13B.

Exemplary Devices

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks havenot been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspectsof the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements shouldnot be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguishone element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed asecond contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a firstcontact, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thefirst contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are notthe same contact.

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description ofthe invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and“the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that theterm “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and allpossible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Itwill be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,”“comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon”or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” dependingon the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [astated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upondetermining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [thestated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the statedcondition or event],” depending on the context.

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, andassociated processes for using such devices are described. In someembodiments, the device is a portable communications device, such as amobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/ormusic player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunctiondevices include, without limitation, the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad®devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other portable electronicdevices, such as laptops or tablet computers with touch-sensitivesurfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touch pads), may also beused. It should also be understood that, in some embodiments, the deviceis not a portable communications device, but is a desktop computer witha touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screen display and/or a touchpad).

In the discussion that follows, an electronic device that includes adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should beunderstood, however, that the electronic device may include one or moreother physical user-interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, amouse and/or a joystick.

The device typically supports a variety of applications, such as one ormore of the following: a drawing application, a presentationapplication, a word processing application, a website creationapplication, a disk authoring application, a spreadsheet application, agaming application, a telephone application, a video conferencingapplication, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, aworkout support application, a photo management application, a digitalcamera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use atleast one common physical user-interface device, such as thetouch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitivesurface as well as corresponding information displayed on the device maybe adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or withina respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture(such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the device may support thevariety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive andtransparent to the user.

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of portable devices withtouch-sensitive displays. FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustratingportable multifunction device 100 with touch-sensitive displays 112 inaccordance with some embodiments. Touch-sensitive display 112 issometimes called a “touch screen” for convenience, and may also be knownas or called a touch-sensitive display system. Device 100 may includememory 102 (which may include one or more computer readable storagemediums), memory controller 122, one or more processing units (CPU's)120, peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110,speaker 111, microphone 113, input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, otherinput or control devices 116, and external port 124. Device 100 mayinclude one or more optical sensors 164. These components maycommunicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines 103.

It should be appreciated that device 100 is only one example of aportable multifunction device, and that device 100 may have more orfewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or mayhave a different configuration or arrangement of the components. Thevarious components shown in FIG. 1A may be implemented in hardware,software, or a combination of both hardware and software, including oneor more signal processing and/or application specific integratedcircuits.

Memory 102 may include high-speed random access memory and may alsoinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memorydevices. Access to memory 102 by other components of device 100, such asCPU 120 and the peripherals interface 118, may be controlled by memorycontroller 122.

Peripherals interface 118 can be used to couple input and outputperipherals of the device to CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or moreprocessors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets ofinstructions stored in memory 102 to perform various functions fordevice 100 and to process data.

In some embodiments, peripherals interface 118, CPU 120, and memorycontroller 122 may be implemented on a single chip, such as chip 104. Insome other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 may include well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, alsoreferred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wirelessnetwork, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and otherdevices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may useany of a plurality of communications standards, protocols andtechnologies, including but not limited to Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speeddownlink packet access (HSDPA), high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA),wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multipleaccess (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/orIEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocolfor e-mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or postoffice protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messagingand presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for InstantMessaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messagingand Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or anyother suitable communication protocol, including communication protocolsnot yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, and microphone 113 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 100. Audio circuitry 110 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 111.Speaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 113 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 110 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data may be retrievedfrom and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or RF circuitry 108 byperipherals interface 118. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 110 alsoincludes a headset jack (e.g., 212, FIG. 2). The headset jack providesan interface between audio circuitry 110 and removable audioinput/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headsetwith both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input(e.g., a microphone).

I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on device 100, suchas touch screen 112 and other input control devices 116, to peripheralsinterface 118. I/O subsystem 106 may include display controller 156 andone or more input controllers 160 for other input or control devices.The one or more input controllers 160 receive/send electrical signalsfrom/to other input or control devices 116. The other input controldevices 116 may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rockerbuttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and soforth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s) 160 may becoupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port,USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons(e.g., 208, FIG. 2) may include an up/down button for volume control ofspeaker 111 and/or microphone 113. The one or more buttons may include apush button (e.g., 206, FIG. 2).

Touch-sensitive display 112 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. Display controller 156 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 112. Touch screen112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output may includegraphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectivelytermed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visualoutput may correspond to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensorsthat accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact.Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 (along with any associatedmodules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (andany movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 112 andconverts the detected contact into interaction with user-interfaceobjects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) thatare displayed on touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, a pointof contact between touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a fingerof the user.

Touch screen 112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD(light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emittingdiode) technology, although other display technologies may be used inother embodiments. Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 maydetect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of aplurality of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed,including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, andsurface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensorarrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contactwith touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutualcapacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in theiPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

Touch screen 112 may have a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi. Insome embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 160 dpi. The user may make contact with touch screen 112using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, andso forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to workprimarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be lessprecise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of afinger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translatesthe rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position orcommand for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 100 mayinclude a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particularfunctions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive areaof the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visualoutput. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separatefrom touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surfaceformed by the touch screen.

Device 100 also includes power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 162 may include a power management system, oneor more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. FIG. 1Ashows an optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 158 in I/Osubsystem 106. Optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupled device(CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)phototransistors. Optical sensor 164 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module 143(also called a camera module), optical sensor 164 may capture stillimages or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located onthe back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112 on the frontof the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as aviewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In someembodiments, another optical sensor is located on the front of thedevice so that the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencingwhile the user views the other video conference participants on thetouch screen display.

Device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. FIG. 1Ashows proximity sensor 166 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, proximity sensor 166 may be coupled to input controller 160in I/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turnsoff and disables touch screen 112 when the multifunction device isplaced near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 100 may also include one or more accelerometers 168. FIG. 1Ashows accelerometer 168 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, accelerometer 168 may be coupled to an input controller 160in I/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, information is displayed onthe touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based onan analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers. Device100 optionally includes, in addition to accelerometer(s) 168, amagnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other globalnavigation system) receiver (not shown) for obtaining informationconcerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) ofdevice 100.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102include operating system 126, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, text input module (or setof instructions) 134, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 135, and applications (or sets of instructions) 136.Furthermore, in some embodiments memory 102 stores device/globalinternal state 157, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 3. Device/global internalstate 157 includes one or more of: active application state, indicatingwhich applications, if any, are currently active; display state,indicating what applications, views or other information occupy variousregions of touch screen display 112; sensor state, including informationobtained from the device's various sensors and input control devices116; and location information concerning the device's location and/orattitude.

Operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, oran embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various softwarecomponents and/or drivers for controlling and managing general systemtasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, powermanagement, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardwareand software components.

Communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 124 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 108 and/orexternal port 124. External port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin)connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with the30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) devices.

Contact/motion module 130 may detect contact with touch screen 112 (inconjunction with display controller 156) and other touch sensitivedevices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). Contact/motionmodule 130 includes various software components for performing variousoperations related to detection of contact, such as determining ifcontact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-down event), determiningif there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or more finger-draggingevents), and determining if the contact has ceased (e.g., detecting afinger-up event or a break in contact). Contact/motion module 130receives contact data from the touch-sensitive surface. Determiningmovement of the point of contact, which is represented by a series ofcontact data, may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity(magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitudeand/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations may beapplied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiplesimultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). Insome embodiments, contact/motion module 130 and display controller 156detect contact on a touchpad.

Contact/motion module 130 may detect a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns. Thus, a gesture may be detected by detecting a particularcontact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includesdetecting a finger-down event followed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event at the same position (or substantially the same position) asthe finger-down event (e.g., at the position of an icon). As anotherexample, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceincludes detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting one or morefinger-dragging events, and subsequently followed by detecting afinger-up (lift off) event.

Graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 112 or other display,including components for changing the intensity of graphics that aredisplayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object thatcan be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, webpages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys),digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 132 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic may be assigned a corresponding code.Graphics module 132 receives, from applications etc., one or more codesspecifying graphics to be displayed along with, if necessary, coordinatedata and other graphic property data, and then generates screen imagedata to output to display controller 156.

Text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module 132,provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g.,contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, browser 147, and any other applicationthat needs text input).

GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 foruse in location-based dialing, to camera 143 as picture/video metadata,and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   telephone module 138;    -   video conferencing module 139;    -   e-mail client module 140;    -   instant messaging (IM) module 141;    -   workout support module 142;    -   camera module 143 for still and/or video images;    -   image management module 144;    -   browser module 147;    -   calendar module 148;    -   widget modules 149, which may include one or more of: weather        widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3,        alarm clock widget 149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and other        widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets        149-6;    -   widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;    -   search module 151;    -   video and music player module 152, which may be made up of a        video player module and a music player module;    -   notes module 153;    -   map module 154; and/or    -   online video module 155.

Examples of other applications 136 that may be stored in memory 102include other word processing applications, other image editingapplications, drawing applications, presentation applications,JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voicerecognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, contactsmodule 137 may be used to manage an address book or contact list (e.g.,stored in application internal state 192 of contacts module 137 inmemory 102 or memory 370), including: adding name(s) to the addressbook; deleting name(s) from the address book; associating telephonenumber(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or other informationwith a name; associating an image with a name; categorizing and sortingnames; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses to initiateand/or facilitate communications by telephone 138, video conference 139,e-mail 140, or IM 141; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, telephone module138 may be used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to atelephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in address book137, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial a respectivetelephone number, conduct a conversation and disconnect or hang up whenthe conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication may use any of a plurality of communications standards,protocols and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module132, text input module 134, contact list 137, and telephone module 138,videoconferencing module 139 includes executable instructions toinitiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user andone or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, e-mail client module 140 includes executable instructions tocreate, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response to userinstructions. In conjunction with image management module 144, e-mailclient module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails withstill or video images taken with camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the instant messaging module 141 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video filesand/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or an EnhancedMessaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers toboth telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) andInternet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, orIMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, map module 154, and music player module 146,workout support module 142 includes executable instructions to createworkouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals);communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receive workoutsensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; select andplay music for a workout; and display, store and transmit workout data.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, opticalsensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130,graphics module 132, and image management module 144, camera module 143includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 102, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and cameramodule 143, image management module 144 includes executable instructionsto arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate, label, delete,present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/orvideo images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, browser module 147 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, e-mail client module 140, and browser module 147, calendarmodule 148 includes executable instructions to create, display, modify,and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendarentries, to do lists, etc.) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, widget modules 149 aremini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3,alarm clock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or created by theuser (e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150 may beused by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specified portionof a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134,search module 151 includes executable instructions to search for text,music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 102 that matchone or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified searchterms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, video and music playermodule 152 includes executable instructions that allow the user todownload and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present or otherwise play back videos (e.g., ontouch screen 112 or on an external, connected display via external port124). In some embodiments, device 100 may include the functionality ofan MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, notes module153 includes executable instructions to create and manage notes, to dolists, and the like in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, map module 154 maybe used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associatedwith maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and other points ofinterest at or near a particular location; and other location-baseddata) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, text input module 134, e-mail client module 140,and browser module 147, online video module 155 includes instructionsthat allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streamingand/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or on anexternal, connected display via external port 124), send an e-mail witha link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online videosin one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments, instantmessaging module 141, rather than e-mail client module 140, is used tosend a link to a particular online video.

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 102 maystore a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory 102 may store additional modules and data structuresnot described above.

In some embodiments, device 100 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/ora touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device100, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons,dials, and the like) on device 100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between userinterfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user,navigates device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that may be displayed on device 100. In such embodiments, thetouchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some otherembodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or otherphysical input control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 1C is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 102 (in FIGS. 1A and 1B) or 370 (FIG. 3) includes event sorter170 (e.g., in operating system 126) and a respective application 136-1(e.g., any of the aforementioned applications 137-151, 155, 380-390).

Event sorter 170 receives event information and determines theapplication 136-1 and application view 191 of application 136-1 to whichto deliver the event information. Event sorter 170 includes eventmonitor 171 and event dispatcher module 174. In some embodiments,application 136-1 includes application internal state 192, whichindicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch sensitivedisplay 112 when the application is active or executing. In someembodiments, device/global internal state 157 is used by event sorter170 to determine which application(s) is (are) currently active, andapplication internal state 192 is used by event sorter 170 to determineapplication views 191 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, application internal state 192 includes additionalinformation, such as one or more of: resume information to be used whenapplication 136-1 resumes execution, user interface state informationthat indicates information being displayed or that is ready for displayby application 136-1, a state queue for enabling the user to go back toa prior state or view of application 136-1, and a redo/undo queue ofprevious actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 171 receives event information from peripherals interface118. Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., auser touch on touch-sensitive display 112, as part of a multi-touchgesture). Peripherals interface 118 transmits information it receivesfrom I/O subsystem 106 or a sensor, such as proximity sensor 166,accelerometer(s) 168, and/or microphone 113 (through audio circuitry110). Information that peripherals interface 118 receives from I/Osubsystem 106 includes information from touch-sensitive display 112 or atouch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 171 sends requests to the peripheralsinterface 118 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheralsinterface 118 transmits event information. In other embodiments,peripheral interface 118 transmits event information only when there isa significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predeterminednoise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event sorter 170 also includes a hit viewdetermination module 172 and/or an active event recognizer determinationmodule 173.

Hit view determination module 172 provides software procedures fordetermining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more views,when touch sensitive display 112 displays more than one view. Views aremade up of controls and other elements that a user can see on thedisplay.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is aset of views, sometimes herein called application views or userinterface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-basedgestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) inwhich a touch is detected may correspond to programmatic levels within aprogrammatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example, thelowest level view in which a touch is detected may be called the hitview, and the set of events that are recognized as proper inputs may bedetermined based, at least in part, on the hit view of the initial touchthat begins a touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 172 receives information related tosub-events of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multipleviews organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 172identifies a hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which shouldhandle the sub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowestlevel view in which an initiating sub-event occurs (i.e., the firstsub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potentialevent). Once the hit view is identified by the hit view determinationmodule, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related to thesame touch or input source for which it was identified as the hit view.

Active event recognizer determination module 173 determines which viewor views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence ofsub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determinationmodule 173 determines that only the hit view should receive a particularsequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizerdetermination module 173 determines that all views that include thephysical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, andtherefore determines that all actively involved views should receive aparticular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touchsub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with oneparticular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain asactively involved views.

Event dispatcher module 174 dispatches the event information to an eventrecognizer (e.g., event recognizer 180). In embodiments including activeevent recognizer determination module 173, event dispatcher module 174delivers the event information to an event recognizer determined byactive event recognizer determination module 173. In some embodiments,event dispatcher module 174 stores in an event queue the eventinformation, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver module182.

In some embodiments, operating system 126 includes event sorter 170.Alternatively, application 136-1 includes event sorter 170. In yet otherembodiments, event sorter 170 is a stand-alone module, or a part ofanother module stored in memory 102, such as contact/motion module 130.

In some embodiments, application 136-1 includes a plurality of eventhandlers 190 and one or more application views 191, each of whichincludes instructions for handling touch events that occur within arespective view of the application's user interface. Each applicationview 191 of the application 136-1 includes one or more event recognizers180. Typically, a respective application view 191 includes a pluralityof event recognizers 180. In other embodiments, one or more of eventrecognizers 180 are part of a separate module, such as a user interfacekit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application 136-1inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent handler 190 includes one or more of: data updater 176, objectupdater 177, GUI updater 178, and/or event data 179 received from eventsorter 170. Event handler 190 may utilize or call data updater 176,object updater 177 or GUI updater 178 to update the application internalstate 192. Alternatively, one or more of the application views 191includes one or more respective event handlers 190. Also, in someembodiments, one or more of data updater 176, object updater 177, andGUI updater 178 are included in a respective application view 191.

A respective event recognizer 180 receives event information (e.g.,event data 179) from event sorter 170, and identifies an event from theevent information. Event recognizer 180 includes event receiver 182 andevent comparator 184. In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 alsoincludes at least a subset of: metadata 183, and event deliveryinstructions 188 (which may include sub-event delivery instructions).

Event receiver 182 receives event information from event sorter 170. Theevent information includes information about a sub-event, for example, atouch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the eventinformation also includes additional information, such as location ofthe sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch the eventinformation may also include speed and direction of the sub-event. Insome embodiments, events include rotation of the device from oneorientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscapeorientation, or vice versa), and the event information includescorresponding information about the current orientation (also calleddevice attitude) of the device.

Event comparator 184 compares the event information to predefined eventor sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines anevent or sub-event, or determines or updates the state of an event orsub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 184 includes eventdefinitions 186. Event definitions 186 contain definitions of events(e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event 1(187-1), event 2 (187-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events inan event 187 include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touchmovement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, thedefinition for event 1 (187-1) is a double tap on a displayed object.The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) onthe displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first lift-off (touchend) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on thedisplayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second lift-off (touchend) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition forevent 2 (187-2) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, forexample, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for apredetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitivedisplay 112, and lift-off of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments,the event also includes information for one or more associated eventhandlers 190.

In some embodiments, event definition 187 includes a definition of anevent for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, eventcomparator 184 performs a hit test to determine which user-interfaceobject is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an applicationview in which three user-interface objects are displayed ontouch-sensitive display 112, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitivedisplay 112, event comparator 184 performs a hit test to determine whichof the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch(sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respectiveevent handler 190, the event comparator uses the result of the hit testto determine which event handler 190 should be activated. For example,event comparator 184 selects an event handler associated with thesub-event and the object triggering the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event 187 alsoincludes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event informationuntil after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-eventsdoes or does not correspond to the event recognizer's event type.

When a respective event recognizer 180 determines that the series ofsub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions 186, therespective event recognizer 180 enters an event impossible, eventfailed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequentsub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other eventrecognizers, if any, that remain active for the hit view continue totrack and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 includes metadata183 with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate howthe event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to activelyinvolved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 183 includesconfigurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how eventrecognizers may interact with one another. In some embodiments, metadata183 includes configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicatewhether sub-events are delivered to varying levels in the view orprogrammatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 activates eventhandler 190 associated with an event when one or more particularsub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent recognizer 180 delivers event information associated with theevent to event handler 190. Activating an event handler 190 is distinctfrom sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view.In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 throws a flag associated withthe recognized event, and event handler 190 associated with the flagcatches the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 188 include sub-eventdelivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-eventwithout activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event deliveryinstructions deliver event information to event handlers associated withthe series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlersassociated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved viewsreceive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 176 creates and updates data used inapplication 136-1. For example, data updater 176 updates the telephonenumber used in contacts module 137, or stores a video file used in videoplayer module 145. In some embodiments, object updater 177 creates andupdates objects used in application 136-1. For example, object updater176 creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of auser-interface object. GUI updater 178 updates the GUI. For example, GUIupdater 178 prepares display information and sends it to graphics module132 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler(s) 190 includes or has access to dataupdater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178. In someembodiments, data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178are included in a single module of a respective application 136-1 orapplication view 191. In other embodiments, they are included in two ormore software modules.

It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding eventhandling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays also applies toother forms of user inputs to operate multifunction devices 100 withinput-devices, not all of which are initiated on touch screens, e.g.,coordinating mouse movement and mouse button presses with or withoutsingle or multiple keyboard presses or holds, user movements taps,drags, scrolls, etc., on touch-pads, pen stylus inputs, movement of thedevice, oral instructions, detected eye movements, biometric inputs,and/or any combination thereof, which may be utilized as inputscorresponding to sub-events which define an event to be recognized.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touchscreen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen maydisplay one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 200. In thisembodiment, as well as others described below, a user may select one ormore of the graphics by making a gesture on the graphics, for example,with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scale in the figure) or oneor more styluses 203 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In someembodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the userbreaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, thegesture may include one or more taps, one or more swipes (from left toright, right to left, upward and/or downward) and/or a rolling of afinger (from right to left, left to right, upward and/or downward) thathas made contact with device 100. In some embodiments, inadvertentcontact with a graphic may not select the graphic. For example, a swipegesture that sweeps over an application icon may not select thecorresponding application when the gesture corresponding to selection isa tap.

Device 100 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as “home”or menu button 204. As described previously, menu button 204 may be usedto navigate to any application 136 in a set of applications that may beexecuted on device 100. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menubutton is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen112.

In one embodiment, device 100 includes touch screen 112, menu button204, push button 206 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 208, Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card slot 210, head set jack 212, and docking/charging externalport 124. Push button 206 may be used to turn the power on/off on thedevice by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressedstate for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressingthe button and releasing the button before the predefined time intervalhas elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process.In an alternative embodiment, device 100 also may accept verbal inputfor activation or deactivation of some functions through microphone 113.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments. Device 300 need not be portable. In some embodiments,device 300 is a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer,a multimedia player device, a navigation device, an educational device(such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a control device(e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 300 typically includesone or more processing units (CPU's) 310, one or more network or othercommunications interfaces 360, memory 370, and one or more communicationbuses 320 for interconnecting these components. Communication buses 320may include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnectsand controls communications between system components. Device 300includes input/output (I/O) interface 330 comprising display 340, whichis typically a touch screen display. I/O interface 330 also may includea keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device) 350 and touchpad 355.Memory 370 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM,DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices; and mayinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 370 may optionallyinclude one or more storage devices remotely located from CPU(s) 310. Insome embodiments, memory 370 stores programs, modules, and datastructures analogous to the programs, modules, and data structuresstored in memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1), or asubset thereof. Furthermore, memory 370 may store additional programs,modules, and data structures not present in memory 102 of portablemultifunction device 100. For example, memory 370 of device 300 maystore drawing module 380, presentation module 382, word processingmodule 384, website creation module 386, disk authoring module 388,and/or spreadsheet module 390, while memory 102 of portablemultifunction device 100 (FIG. 1) may not store these modules.

Each of the above identified elements in FIG. 3 may be stored in one ormore of the previously mentioned memory devices. Each of the aboveidentified modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing afunction described above. The above identified modules or programs(i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separatesoftware programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets ofthese modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in variousembodiments. In some embodiments, memory 370 may store a subset of themodules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 370may store additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)that may be implemented on portable multifunction device 100.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on portable multifunction device 100 in accordance withsome embodiments. Similar user interfaces may be implemented on device300. In some embodiments, user interface 400 includes the followingelements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Signal strength indicator(s) 402 for wireless communication(s),        such as cellular and Wi-Fi signals;    -   Time 404;    -   Bluetooth indicator 405;    -   Battery status indicator 406;    -   Tray 408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Phone 138, which may include an indicator 414 of the number            of missed calls or voicemail messages;        -   E-mail client 140, which may include an indicator 410 of the            number of unread e-mails;        -   Browser 147; and        -   Video and music player 152, also referred to as iPod            (trademark of Apple Inc.) module 152; and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   IM 141;        -   Image management 144;        -   Camera 143;        -   Weather 149-1;        -   Stocks 149-2;        -   Workout support 142;        -   Calendar 148;        -   Alarm clock 149-4;        -   Map 154;        -   Notes 153;        -   Settings 412, which provides access to settings for device            100 and its various applications 136; and        -   Online video module 155, also referred to as YouTube            (trademark of Google Inc.) module 155.

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3) with a touch-sensitive surface 451 (e.g., a tabletor touchpad 355, FIG. 3) that is separate from the display 450 (e.g.,touch screen display 112). Although many of the examples which followwill be given with reference to inputs on touch screen display 112(where the touch sensitive surface and the display are combined), insome embodiments, the device detects inputs on a touch-sensitive surfacethat is separate from the display, as shown in FIG. 4B. In someembodiments the touch sensitive surface (e.g., 451 in FIG. 4B) has aprimary axis (e.g., 452 in FIG. 4B) that corresponds to a primary axis(e.g., 453 in FIG. 4B) on the display (e.g., 450). In accordance withthese embodiments, the device detects contacts (e.g., 460 and 462 inFIG. 4B) with the touch-sensitive surface 451 at locations thatcorrespond to respective locations on the display (e.g., in FIG. 4B, 460corresponds to 468 and 462 corresponds to 470). In this way, user inputs(e.g., contacts 460 and 462, and movements thereof) detected by thedevice on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 451 in FIG. 4B) are used bythe device to manipulate the user interface on the display (e.g., 450 inFIG. 4B) of the multifunction device when the touch-sensitive surface isseparate from the display. It should be understood that similar methodsmay be used for other user interfaces described herein.

User Interfaces and Associated Processes

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)and associated processes that may be implemented on an electronic devicewith a display and a touch-sensitive surface, such as device 300 orportable multifunction device 100.

FIGS. 5A-5NNN illustrate exemplary user interfaces for manipulating softkeyboards in accordance with some embodiments. The user interfaces inthese figures are used to illustrate the processes described below,including the processes in FIGS. 6A-6B, 7A-7B, 8A-8B, 9, 10A-10B,11A-11D, 12A-12B, 13A-13B.

FIG. 5A depicts user interface (UI) 5000A displayed on touch-sensitivedisplay 112 of a device (e.g., device 100). UI 5000A may be a userinterface in an application (e.g., a notes application, a web browserapplication, etc.) on device 100. UI 5000A includes text entry area5002. Cursor 5004 and input text 5006 are displayed in text entry area5002.

Unsplit soft keyboard 5008 is displayed on display 112. The keys ofunsplit soft keyboard 5008 are not split amongst two or more distinctkeyboard portions. In some embodiments, unsplit soft keyboard 5008includes keyboard split key 5012. In some embodiments, keyboard splitkey 5012 shows an icon or other graphical indicia (e.g., an icon orgraphic showing two halves moving, as in splitting, apart) that keyboardsplit key 5012 may be used to switch to an integrated input area thatincludes a split soft keyboard.

FIG. 5A also depicts exemplary gestures that, if detected, activatesplitting of unsplit soft keyboard 5008 in response. Gesture 5010 is atwo-finger de-pinch gesture performed on unsplit soft keyboard 5008.Gesture 5010 includes finger contacts 5010-A and 5010-B moving apartfrom each other in directions 5011-A and 5011-B, respectively, ondisplay 112. On the other hand, gesture 5014 is a tap gesture onkeyboard split key 5012.

In response to detection of either gesture 5010 or 5014 on display 112,device 100 changes unsplit soft keyboard 5008 (FIG. 5A) into integratedinput area 5016 (FIG. 5C). In some embodiments, an animation showing thetransition from unsplit soft keyboard 5008 to integrated input area 5016is displayed on display 112. For example, the transitional animation mayshow unsplit soft keyboard 5008 splitting into halves and center area5016-C appearing between the halves, with the halves moving apart fromeach other in directions 5017-A and 5017-B. The halves become splitkeyboard portions 5016-A and 5016-B and the keys of unsplit softkeyboard 5008 are divided amongst the halves. In some embodiments, somekeys are included in both left and right portions 5016-A and 5016-B ofintegrated input area 5016. FIG. 5B depicts user interface 5000B at aninstant in the transitional animation from unsplit soft keyboard 5008 tointegrated input area 5016. What was unsplit soft keyboard 5008 hastransitioned into integrated input area 5016, with the keys of unsplitsoft keyboard 5008 divided between two opposing portions. Uponcompletion of the transition animation, integrated input area 5016 isdisplayed, as shown in FIG. 5C.

FIG. 5C depicts user interface 5000C, with integrated input area 5016displayed after completion of the transition animation. Integrated inputarea 5016 includes left split keyboard portion 5016-A and right splitkeyboard portion 5016-B, and center area 5016-C between split keyboardportions 5016-A and 5016-B. Split keyboard portions 5016-A and 5016-Band center area 5016-C form integrated input area 5016. In someembodiments, integrated input area 5016 includes keyboard unsplit key5018, replacing keyboard split key 5012. In some embodiments, acharacter key is included in both split keyboard portions 5016-A and5016-B. For example, “G” key 5019 is included in both portions 5016-Aand 5016-B. In some embodiments, some keys in unsplit soft keyboard 5008are not displayed in integrated input area 5016. For example, hidekeyboard key 5009 (FIG. 5A) in unsplit soft keyboard 5008 is notdisplayed in integrated input area 5016.

In some embodiments, center area 5016-C displays duplicate cursor 5020and duplicate input text 5022. Duplicate cursor 5020 and duplicate inputtext 5022 mirror cursor 5004 and at least a portion of input text 5006,respectively. The portion of input text 5006 that is visible in centerarea 5016-C as duplicate input text 5022 at any moment is typically theportion of input text 5006 that is in the immediate vicinity of cursor5004. In some embodiments, duplicate cursor 5020 and duplicate inputtext 5006 are displayed at larger sizes than cursor 5004 and input text5006, respectively. In some other embodiments, center area 5016 isempty, and text entry area 5002 is visible through center area 5016-C,as shown in FIG. 5K.

FIG. 5D depicts user interface 5000D, with gesture 5026 detected ondisplay 112. Gesture 5026 is detected on “T” key 5024 in left splitkeyboard portion 5016-A. In response to detection of gesture 5026 on “T”key 5024, “T” key 5024 is activated and a “t” character is entered intoinput text 5006. Duplicate input text 5022 in center area 5016-C alsoshows the “t” character being entered, mirroring the entering of the “t”character into input text 5006.

FIG. 5E depicts user interface 5000E, showing gestures that, ifdetected, activate un-splitting of the split soft keyboard in integratedinput area 5016 in response. Gesture 5028 is a two-finger pinch gestureperformed on integrated input area 5016. Gesture 5028 includes fingercontacts 5028-A and 5028-B moving toward each other in directions 5030-Aand 5030-B, respectively, on display 112. On the other hand, gesture5032 is a tap gesture on keyboard unsplit key 5018.

In response to detection of either gesture 5028 or 5032 on display 112,device 100 changes integrated input area 5016 into unsplit soft keyboard5008. In some embodiments, an animation showing the transition fromintegrated input area 5016 to unsplit soft keyboard 5008 is displayed ondisplay 112. For example, the transitional animation may show splitkeyboard portions 5016-A and 5016-B merging together and center area5016-C reducing in size and eventually ceasing to be displayed. FIG. 5Fdepicts user interface 5000F at a point in the transitional animation.Integrated input area portions 5016-A and 5016-B are merging together indirections 5034-A and 5034-B and center area 5016-C continually reducesin size. Upon completion of the transition animation, unsplit softkeyboard 5008, including keyboard split key 5012, is displayed in UI5000G, as shown in FIG. 5G.

FIG. 5H depicts user interface 5000H displayed on display 112. Tapgesture 5038 is detected at some time on “T” key 5036 in unsplit softkeyboard 5008. In response, “T” key 5036 is activated; a “t” characteris entered into input text 5006 displayed in UI 50001, as shown in FIG.5I.

FIG. 5I also depicts gesture 5010 detected on display 112 at a timeafter the time of detection of gesture 5038. In some embodiments,whether integrated input area 5016 is displayed in place of unsplit softkeyboard 5008, in response to detection of gesture 5010 depends on thetime when gesture 5038 is detected and the time when gesture 5010 isdetected. If the time period between the time when gesture 5038 isdetected and the time when gesture 5010 is detected exceeds a predefinedperiod of time (e.g., 0.3, 0.5, or 1.0 seconds), then integrated inputarea 5016 is displayed in UI 5000K, as shown in FIG. 5K. In someembodiments, a transitional animation is displayed in UI 5000J, as shownin FIG. 5J. FIG. 5J is similar to FIG. 5B, and thus a detaileddescription of FIG. 5J is omitted for brevity. If the time periodbetween the time when gesture 5038 is detected and the time when gesture5010 is detected does not exceed the predefined period of time, then thedisplay of unsplit soft keyboard 5008 is maintained. This use of a timethreshold prevents accidental conversion of the unsplit keyboard 5008into an integrated input area 5016 when the user is in the middle oftyping using the unsplit keyboard.

FIG. 5L depicts user interface 5000L displayed on display 112. Userinterface 5000L may be a user interface in an application (e.g., a notesapplication, a web browser application, etc.) on device 100. Userinterface 5000L includes text entry area 5002 and integrated input area5039. Integrated input area 5039 includes split keyboard portions 5039-Aand 5039-B, and center area 5039-C. In some embodiments, integratedinput area 5039 is integrated input area 5016, with duplicate input textand a duplicate cursor displayed in center area 5039-C.

In some embodiments, integrated input area 5039 may move to a differentlocation on display 112 in response to a gesture (e.g., a dragginggesture). In FIG. 5L, two gestures are shown: gesture 5040 and gesture5044. Gesture 5040 is a dragging gesture where the finger contact beginsin center area 5039-C, as indicated by finger contact position 5040-1,and moves to position 5040-2. Gesture 5044 is a dragging gesture wherethe finger contact begins in split keyboard portion 5039-B, as indicatedby finger contact position 5044-1, and moves to position 5044-2.

Whether integrated input area 5039 does move in response to detection ofgesture 5040 or gesture 5044 depends on whether the magnitude ofrespective gesture 5040 or 5044, i.e., a distance the finger contactmoves in the gesture, exceeds a respective predefined threshold. Theamount of the threshold depends on whether the detected gesture beginsin center area 5039 or in split keyboard portion 5039-A or 5039-B. For agesture that starts in center area 5039-C, threshold 5042 is apredefined distance from the start of the gesture. For a gesture thatstarts in split keyboard portion 5039-B or 5039-A, threshold 5046 is apredefined distance from the start of the gesture. The distance forthreshold 5046 is longer than the distance for threshold 5042. Thus, theintegrated input area will start moving in accordance with the movementof the contact in gesture 5040 before the integrated input area willstart moving in accordance with the movement of the contact in gesture5044. The distance threshold is greater over the split keyboard portionsof the integrated input area (as compared to the center portion of theintegrated input area) to prevent accidental movement of the integratedinput area when a user contact moves during typing with the splitkeyboard.

In some embodiments, a distance threshold is compared against thevertical distance component of the gesture. In some other embodiments,the distance threshold is compared against the complete gesture,including both the horizontal and vertical distance components; thethreshold is compared against the absolute distance of the gesture.Thus, for example, alternative thresholds 5046 and 5048 are shown forgesture 5044. Threshold 5046 is compared to the vertical component ofgesture 5044. Threshold 5048, on the other hand, is compared to thecomplete gesture 5044.

If either gesture 5040 or 5044 is detected, and the detected gestureexceeds a respective threshold in accordance with where the detectedgesture began, then integrated input area 5039 moves vertically inaccordance with the direction of the detected gesture in UI 5000M, asshown in FIG. 5M. Split keyboard portions 5039-A, 5039-B, and centerarea 5039-C move together as one integrated unit in a verticaldirection. Movement of integrated input area 5039 is typicallyrestricted to vertical—up or down—movement, which keeps the left andright split keyboard portions adjacent to the left and right sides ofthe display, respectively, when the integrated input area is moved. Inturn, this keeps the keys in the left and right split keyboard portionseasily reachable by the left and right thumbs, respectively, duringtwo-thumb typing.

FIG. 5N illustrates two charts showing the amount of the threshold basedon where on display 112 the gesture begins. Chart 5050 shows the amountof the threshold according to some embodiments. Chart 5050 has an x-axisbeing the position along the width of display 112 and the y-axis beingthe magnitude of the threshold, with the ends of the x-axis representingthe left and right edges of display 112. Line 5052 is a line marking thecenter axis of display 112. Span 5055 between lines 5054-A and 5054-Brepresent the width of center area 5039-C. The areas outside of span5055 represent the widths of split keyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-B.A first value is defined for threshold 5056-B, for gestures that beginin center area 5039-C. Threshold 5056-B is constant for the width ofcenter area 5039-C. A second value is defined for threshold 5056-A, forgestures that begin in either split keyboard portion 5039-A or 5039-B.Threshold 5056-A is constant for the widths of split keyboard portions5039-A or 5039-B.

Chart 5058 shows the amount of the threshold according to somealternative embodiments. Chart 5058 has an x-axis being the positionalong the width of display 112 and the y-axis being the magnitude of thethreshold, with the ends of the x-axis representing the left and rightedges of display 112. Span 5055 between lines 5054-A and 5054-Brepresents the width of center area 5039-C. The areas outside of span5055 represent the widths of split keyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-B.Chart 5058 shows threshold amounts 5060-A and 5060-B defined to be aparticular amount at center line 5052 and increasing linearly from thatamount with the distance from center line 5052. Under either chart 5050or 5058, the threshold within center area 5039-C is lower than thethreshold in split keyboard portion 5039-A or 5039-B. In center area5039-C, the distance threshold is lower because there is lessopportunity for confusing a dragging gesture (for moving integratedinput area 5039) with a key activation gesture (for entering acharacter).

FIG. 5O depicts UI 5000O. UI 5000O includes application content area5062, with height 5064, displayed on display 112. UI 5000O also includesintegrated input area 5039, with height 5065, docked at the bottom ondisplay 112. The sum of height 5064 and height 5065 is equal (orsubstantially equal, e.g., within 10 pixels) to height 5066 of display112. Gesture 5068 is detected on display 112. Gesture 5068 includes afinger contact moving on display 112 from position 5068-1 to position5068-2.

In response to detecting gesture 5068, integrated input area 5039 isundocked and moves vertically in accordance with the direction ofgesture 5068 in UI 5000P, as shown in FIG. 5P. Integrated input area5039 is displayed as an overlay over application content area 5062 inFIG. 5P. Also in response to detecting gesture 5068, application contentarea 5062 increases in size to occupy height 5066. As a result of theincrease in size, content in application content area 5062 that waspreviously not visible in UI 5000O absent scrolling may become visiblein UI 5000P. For example, instant messaging (IM) field 5067 is visiblein UI 5000P without scrolling. Thus, when an input area with a keyboardis “undocked” from the bottom of the display, more display area is usedto display the application content area and the input area “floats” overthe application content area.

FIG. 5Q depicts UI 5000Q displayed on display 112. UI 5000Q includestext entry area 5002 and split soft keyboard 5069. In some embodiments,split soft keyboard 5069 is part of integrated input area 5016 or 5039.Cursor 5004 and input text 5006 are displayed in text entry area 5002.Split keyboard 5069 includes left split keyboard portion 5069-A andright split keyboard portion 5069-B. In left split keyboard portion5069-A, the rightmost letter keys include “T” key 5070, “F” key 5072,and “V” key 5074. In right split keyboard portion 5039-B, the leftmostletter keys include “Y” key 5076, “G” key 5078, and “B” key 5080.

To the right of “T” key 5070, “F” key 5072, and “V” key 5074 in leftsplit keyboard portion 5069-A are undisplayed key activation areas 5082,5084, and 5086, respectively. Activation area 5082 corresponds to “Y”key 5076. Activation area 5084 corresponds to “G” key 5078. Activationarea 5086 corresponds to “B” key 5080. The undisplayed key activationareas are typically the same size as or slightly larger (e.g., up to 10%larger) than the corresponding key. The diagonal lines in activationareas 5082, 5084, and 5086 in the figures are used to indicate thatthese activation areas are not displayed to the user, whereas thecorresponding keys are displayed.

To the left of “Y” key 5076, “G” key 5078, and “B” key 5080 areundisplayed key activation areas 5088, 5090, and 5092, respectively.Activation area 5088 corresponds to “T” key 5070. Activation area 5090corresponds to “F” key 5072. Activation area 5092 corresponds to “V” key5074. The undisplayed key activation areas are typically the same sizeas or slightly larger (e.g., up to 10% larger) than the correspondingkey. The diagonal lines in activation areas 5088, 5090, and 5092 in thefigures are used to indicate that these activation areas are notdisplayed to the user, whereas the corresponding keys are displayed.

FIG. 5Q also shows gesture 5096 (e.g., a tap gesture) detected on “O”key 5094 in right split keyboard portion 5069-B. In response todetection of gesture 5096, a character “o” is entered into input text5006 in UI 5000R, as shown in FIG. 5R.

FIG. 5R also shows gesture 5098 detected on key activation area 5086following detection of gesture 5096. In some embodiments, in response todetection of gesture 5098, a character “b” is entered into input text5006 in UI 5000S, as shown in FIG. 5S, as key activation area 5086corresponds to “B” key 5080.

In some other embodiments, a character “b” is entered into input text5006 in response to detection of gesture 5098 if the time period betweenthe time of detection for gesture 5096 and the time of detection forgesture 5098 is less than a predefined period of time. If the timeperiod exceeds the predefined period, entering of the character “b” isforegone; gesture 5098 is ignored.

FIG. 5T shows UI 5000T, with gesture 5100 detected on key activationarea 5088. In response to detection of gesture 5100, a character “t” isentered into input text 5006 in UI 5000U, as shown in FIG. 5U, as keyactivation area 5088 corresponds to “T” key 5070.

FIG. 5V depicts UI 5000V. UI 5000V includes text entry area 5002 andintegrated input area 5016. Integrated input area 5016 includes splitkeyboard portions 5016-A (the left portion) and 5016-B (the rightportion) and center area 5016-C. Cursor 5004 and input text 5006 arealso displayed in text entry area 5002. Cursor 5004 and input text 5006are mirrored in center area 5016-C as duplicate cursor 5020 andduplicate input text 5022, respectively. In some embodiments, duplicatecursor 5020 and duplicate input text 5022 are displayed at larger sizesthan cursor 5004 and input text 5006, respectively.

FIG. 5V also shows gesture 5102 (e.g., a tap gesture) detected on “T”key 5024 in left split keyboard portion 5016-A. In response to detectionof gesture 5102, a character “t” is entered into input text 5006 in UI5000W, as shown in FIG. 5W. Input text 5006, including the newly enteredcharacter “t,” is mirrored in center area 5016-C, as duplicate inputtext 5022 also shows the newly entered letter “t.”

FIG. 5X shows UI 5000X, with gesture 5102 detected on duplicate cursor5020 in center area 5016-C, while duplicate cursor 5020 is located atthe end of duplicate input text 5022 (mirroring cursor 5004 beinglocated at the end of input text 5006). Gesture 5102 is a dragginggesture, with the finger contact moving in direction 5103. In responseto detection of gesture 5102 on duplicate cursor 5020, cursor 5004 ismoved to a different position in input text 5006 in accordance withdirection 5103 in UI 5000Y, as shown in FIG. 5Y. The result of themovement of cursor 5004 is mirrored in center area 5016-C, as duplicateinput text 5022 is moved so that duplicate cursor 5020 is in the sameposition relative to duplicate input text 5022 as cursor 5004 isrelative to input text 5006. In some embodiments, duplicate cursor 5020remains stationary within center area 5016-C, and its position relativeto duplicate input text 5022 changes by advancing or retreatingduplicate input text 5022, as shown in FIG. 5Y.

FIG. 5Z depicts UI 5000Z. Editing control object 5104, corresponding toa text editing operation, is displayed in UI 5000Z near input text 5006.Editing control object 5104 corresponds to a text pasting operation tobe performed on input text 5006 if activated. Duplicate editing controlobject 5106, corresponding to editing control object 5104, is displayedin center area 5016-C near duplicate input text 5022. Gesture 5108(e.g., a tap gesture) is detected on duplicate editing control object5106.

In response to detection of gesture 5108 on duplicate editing controlobject 5106, the text pasting operation corresponding to editing controlobject 5104 is activated in UI 5000AA, as shown in FIG. 5AA. Text“ahead” is pasted into input text 5006. The text pasting is mirrored incenter area 5016-C, as duplicate text 5022 is updated to also includethe pasted text “ahead.”

FIG. 5BB depicts UI 5000BB. UI 5000BB includes form 5110 displayed intext entry area 5002. Form 5110 includes one or more text entry fields5114 and one or more checkboxes 5112, each respective checkbox 5112associated with an option in form 5110. For example, checkbox 5112-A inform 5110 is associated with the “Vegetarian” option. Duplicatecheckboxes 5116 and the corresponding options mirror checkboxes 5112 andthe corresponding options and are displayed in center area 5016-C. Forexample, duplicate checkbox 5116-A corresponds to checkbox 5112-A,duplicate checkbox 5116-B corresponds to checkbox 5112-B, and so onforth. In some embodiments, duplicate checkboxes 5116 and thecorresponding options are displayed at larger sizes than theircorresponding checkboxes 5112. Gesture 5118 (e.g., a tap gesture) isdetected on duplicate checkbox 5116-A, which is unselected (i.e., notchecked), as is checkbox 5112-A.

In response to detection of gesture 5118 on duplicate checkbox 5116-A,checkbox 5112-A is selected in UI 5000CC, as shown in FIG. 5CC.Duplicate checkbox 5116-A is also selected, mirroring the selection ofcheckbox 5112-A.

FIG. 5DD depicts UI 5000DD. UI 5000DD shows gesture 5120 detected incenter area 5016-C, away from duplicate cursor 5020 and duplicate inputtext 5022. In some embodiments, gesture 5120 is a double tap gesture ora finger contact held in place. In response to detection of gesture 5120in center area 5016-C, pop-up menu 5122 is displayed in UI 5000EE, asshown in FIG. 5EE. Duplicate menu 5124 is displayed in center area5016-C. Selection of an option in duplicate menu 5124 has the sameeffect as selecting the corresponding option in pop-up menu 5122. Inother embodiments (not shown), in response to detection of gesture 5120,menu 5124 is displayed in center area 5016-C, without concurrentlydisplaying 5122; in other words, a pop-up menu is just displayed in thecenter area 5016-C.

FIG. 5FF depicts UI 5000FF. UI 5000FF includes handwriting 5126 madeusing one or more finger strokes 5128 made within center area 5016-C.Handwriting 5126 is recognized to resemble a Chinese character, and oneor more candidate characters (not shown) may be displayed in center area5016-C. In response to selection of a candidate character, the selectedcandidate character is entered into input text 5006 in UI 5000GG, asshown in FIG. 5GG. In UI 5000GG, the character “

” is entered into input text 5006. In some embodiments, duplicate inputtext 5022 also shows the character “

” being entered.

FIG. 5HH depicts UI 5000HH. UI 5000HH includes cursor 5004 in text entryarea 5002 and drawing 5130, made using one or more finger strokes 5132,in center area 5016-C. After completion of drawing 5130, drawing 5133corresponding to drawing 5130 is entered into text entry area 5002 in UI5000II, as shown in FIG. 5II.

FIG. 5JJ depicts UI 5000JJ. UI 5000JJ includes input text 5006 andcursor 5004 displayed in text entry area 5002. Suggested word 5134 forinput text 5006 is displayed. Duplicate suggested word 5136,corresponding to suggested word 5134, is displayed in center area 5016-Cnear duplicate input text 5022. Gesture 5138 (e.g., a tap gesture) isdetected on X-icon 5137 (which corresponds to X-icon 5135 accompanyingsuggested word 5134) accompanying duplicate suggested word 5136.

In response to detection of gesture 5138 on X-icon 5137, suggested word5134 is rejected, and input text 506 remains as is in UI 5000KK, asshown in FIG. 5KK.

FIG. 5LL depicts UI 5000LL. UI 5000LL includes input text 5006 andcursor 5004 displayed in text entry area 5002. One or more emoticons5140 available for entry into input text 5006 are displayed. Duplicateemoticons 5142, corresponding to emoticons 5140, are displayed in centerarea 5016-C near duplicate input text 5022. Gesture 5144 (e.g., a tapgesture) is detected on duplicate emoticon 5142-A, which corresponds toemoticon 5140-A.

In response to detection of gesture 5144 on duplicate emoticon 5142-A,emoticon 5140-A is entered into input text 5006 in UI 5000MM, as shownin FIG. 5MM. The changed text input 5006 is mirrored in center area5016-C, as duplicate emoticon 5142-A is entered into duplicate inputtext 5022. In other embodiments (not shown), emoticons 5142 aredisplayed in center area 5016-C, without concurrently displayingemoticons 5140; in other words, the emoticons available for input arejust displayed in the center area 5016-C.

FIG. 5NN depicts UI 5000NN, which includes input text 5006 and cursor5004 displayed in text entry area 5002. One or more Unicode characters5146 available for entry into input text 5006 are displayed. DuplicateUnicode characters 5148, corresponding to Unicode characters 5146, aredisplayed in center area 5016-C near duplicate input text 5022. Gesture5149 (e.g., a tap gesture) is detected on duplicate Unicode character5148-A, which corresponds to Unicode character 5146-A.

In response to detection of gesture 5149 on duplicate Unicode character5148-A, Unicode character 5146-A is entered into input text 5006 in UI5000OO, as shown in FIG. 5OO. The changed text input 5006 is mirrored incenter area 5016-C, as duplicate input text 5022 also includes duplicateUnicode character 5148-A. In other embodiments (not shown), Unicodecharacters 5148 are displayed in center area 5016-C, withoutconcurrently displaying Unicode characters 5146; in other words, theUnicode characters available for input are just displayed in the centerarea 5016-C.

FIG. 5PP depicts UI 5000PP, which includes input text 5006 and cursor5004 displayed in text entry area 5002. Cursor 5004 and at least aportion of input text 5006 are mirrored in center area 5016-C asduplicate cursor 5020 and duplicate input text 5022, respectively.Gesture 5150 is detected in center area 5016-C. Gesture 5150 includes afinger contact moving from position 5150-A to position 5150-B, goingover duplicate input text 5022.

In response to detection of gesture 5150 over duplicate input text 5022,duplicate input text 5022 is displayed with shading 5154 (or otherhighlighting), indicating that duplicate input text 5022 is selected.The corresponding text in input text 5006 is displayed with shading 5152(or other highlighting) as well.

FIG. 5RR depicts UI 5000RR, which includes input text 5006 and cursor5004 displayed in text entry area 5002. Cursor 5004 and input text 5006is mirrored in center area 5016-C as duplicate cursor 5020 and duplicateinput text 5022, respectively. Gesture 5156 (e.g., a double tap gesture,a triple tap gesture, or a tap and hold gesture) is detected in centerarea 5016-C on duplicate input text 5022. Gesture 5156 is associatedwith a text formatting operation (e.g., making text bold, underlingtext, italicizing text, etc.).

In response to detection of gesture 5156 on duplicate input text 5022,the formatting of input text 5006 is changed in UI 5000SS, as shown inFIG. 5SS. Input text 5006 is changed to bold text. Duplicate input text5022 is also changed to bold text to mirror the change in the formattingof input text 5006.

FIG. 5TT depicts UI 5000TT. Displayed in UI 5000TT is a menu 5158 ofinput options for center area 5016-C. Menu 5158 includes options forallowable user inputs in center area 5016-C, such as gestures associatedwith text formatting operations, gestures associated with text editingoperations, Chinese character handwriting, drawing, emoticons, and soforth. A user may select, in menu 5158, inputs that they want enabled ordisabled in center area 5016-C.

FIG. 5UU depicts UI 5000UU. UI 5000UU includes application content area5160 (e.g., a content area in a web browser, content area in a wordprocessing application, etc.). Displayed in application content area5160 are one or more text entry areas 5162 (e.g., text fields in anonline form). For example, application content area 5160 includes textentry areas 5162-A thru 5162-F that are a part of an online form. Softkeyboard 5164 is also displayed. While soft keyboard 5164 is shown as anunsplit soft keyboard, in some embodiments, the input area is a splitsoft keyboard or an integrated input area that includes a splitkeyboard, such as integrated input area 5016 or 5039.

Gesture 5166 is detected on display 112. Gesture 5166 is a dragginggesture that includes a finger contact starting at position 5166-A andmoving to position 5166-B. In response to detection of gesture 5166,soft keyboard 5164 moves vertically in accordance with the direction ofgesture 5166 and final position 5166-B in UI 5000VV, as shown in FIG.5VV. After drag gesture 5166, soft keyboard 5164 may partially obscure atext entry area 5162. For example, in UI 5000VV, soft keyboard 5164partially obscures text entry area 5162-F.

FIG. 5UU depicts UI 5000WW. In UI 5000WW, gesture 5168 is detected.Gesture 5168 is a flick gesture in a vertical direction starting from alocation on soft keyboard 5164. In response to detection of gesture5168, movement trajectory 5170, including movement inertia, is impartedto soft keyboard 5164 in accordance with gesture 5168. For example, ashort trajectory is imparted in response to a small flicking gesture,and a long trajectory is imparted in response to a large flickinggesture. Movement trajectory 5170 has termination point 5171.

Soft keyboard 5164 moves with inertia in accordance with movementtrajectory 5170 in UI 5000XX, as shown in FIG. 5XX, and comes to rest ata position adjacent to and below text entry area 5162-F. As softkeyboard 5164 stops just below text entry area 5162-F, none of textentry area 5162-F is obscured by soft keyboard 5164. Even thoughtrajectory 5170 and the associated movement inertia would otherwisecarry soft keyboard 5164 to termination point 5171, which is above thebottom of text entry area 5162-F (FIG. 5WW), trajectory 5170 is adjustedso that soft keyboard 5164 stops just below text entry area 5162-F.

FIG. 5YY depicts UI 5000YY. In UI 5000YY, gesture 5172 is detected.Gesture 5172 is a flicking gesture in a vertical direction starting froma location on soft keyboard 5164, and is a larger flicking gesture thangesture 5168. In response to detection of gesture 5172, movementtrajectory 5174, including movement inertia, is imparted onto softkeyboard 5164 in accordance with gesture 5172. Movement trajectory 5174is larger than movement trajectory 5170 and has termination point 5175.

Soft keyboard 5164 moves with inertia in accordance with movementtrajectory 5174 in UI 5000ZZ, as shown in FIG. 5ZZ, and comes to rest ata position adjacent to and below text entry area 5162-A. As softkeyboard stops just below text entry area 5162-A, none of text entryarea 5162-A is obscured by soft keyboard 5164. Even though trajectory5174 and the associated inertia would otherwise carry soft keyboard 5164to termination point 5175, which is above the bottom of text entry area5162-A (FIG. 5YY), trajectory 5174 is adjusted so that soft keyboard5164 stops just below text entry area 5162-A.

In some embodiments, when the keyboard is “thrown” or “flung,” thekeyboard bounces off the top or bottom of the display by some amount(e.g., an amount corresponding to a top or bottom toolbar height,respectively) if there is some appreciable velocity component of thetouch at the time the touch lifts off. Conversely, when the keyboard isdragged to the edge of the display and released with no or very littlevelocity, the keyboard “docks” flush with the edge of the display (notshown).

FIG. 5AAA depicts UI 5000AAA displayed on display 112. UI 5000AAAincludes text entry area 5002, with cursor 5004 and input text 5006displayed in text entry area 5002. Integrated input area 5039 is alsodisplayed in UI 5000AAA. Integrated input area 5039 includes splitkeyboard portions 5039-A (the left portion) and 5039-B (the rightportion) and center area 5039-C.

Gesture 5176 is detected on display 112. In some embodiments, gesture5176 is a two-thumb tap gesture, with one thumb on location 5176-A oversplit keyboard portion 5039-A and the other thumb on location 5176-Bover split keyboard portion 5039-B.

In response to detection of gesture 5176, device 100 enters areconfiguration mode for integrated input area 5039 in UI 5000BBB (FIG.5BBB). While device 100 is in the reconfiguration mode, gesture 5178 isdetected on display 112. Gesture 5178 includes a left thumb contactmoving toward the left edge of display 112. In response to detection ofgesture 5178, split keyboard portion 5039-A reduces in size (e.g., inwidth, height, or both width and height) in UI 5000CCC, as shown in FIG.5CCC, and the keys in split keyboard portion 5039-A rescale inaccordance with the size reduction of split keyboard portion 5039-A. Insome embodiments, center area 5039-C increases in size and splitkeyboard portion 5039-B maintains the same size in response. In someother embodiments, both center area 5039-C and split keyboard portion5039-B increases in size in response.

FIG. 5DDD depicts UI 5000DDD, which shows gesture 5180 detected ondisplay 112 while in the reconfiguration mode. Gesture 5180 includes aleft thumb contact moving away from the left edge of display 112. Inresponse to detection of gesture 5180, split keyboard portion 5039-Aincreases in size (e.g., in width, height, or both width and height) inUI 5000EEE, as shown in FIG. 5EEE, and the keys in split keyboardportion 5039-A rescale in accordance with the size increase of splitkeyboard portion 5039-A. In some embodiments, center area 5039-Cdecreases in size and split keyboard portion 5039-B maintains the samesize in response. In some other embodiments, both center area 5039-C andsplit keyboard portion 5039-B decreases in size in response.

FIG. 5FFF depicts UI 5000FFF, which shows gesture 5182 detected ondisplay 112 while in the reconfiguration mode. Gesture 5182 includes aright thumb contact moving toward the right edge of display 112. Inresponse to detection of gesture 5182, split keyboard portion 5039-Breduces in size (e.g., in width, height, or both width and height) in UI5000GGG, as shown in FIG. 5GGG, and the keys in split keyboard portion5039-B rescale in accordance with the size reduction of split keyboardportion 5039-B. In some embodiments, center area 5039-C increases insize and split keyboard portion 5039-A maintains the same size inresponse. In some other embodiments, both center area 5039-C and splitkeyboard portion 5039-A increases in size in response.

FIG. 5HHH depicts UI 5000HHH, which shows gesture 5184 detected ondisplay 112 while in the reconfiguration mode. Gesture 5184 includes aright thumb contact moving away from the right edge of display 112. Inresponse to detection of gesture 5184, split keyboard portion 5039-Bincreases in size (e.g., in width, height, or both width and height) inUI 5000III, as shown in FIG. 5III, and the keys in split keyboardportion 5039-B rescale in accordance with the size reduction of splitkeyboard portion 5039-B. In some embodiments, center area 5039-Cdecreases in size and split keyboard portion 5039-A maintains the samesize in response. In some other embodiments, both center area 5039-C andsplit keyboard portion 5039-A decreases in size in response.

FIG. 5JJJ depicts UI 5000JJJ, which shows gesture 5186 being detected ondisplay 112 while in the reconfiguration mode, in some otherembodiments. Gesture 5186 includes a left thumb contact moving towardthe left edge of display 112. In response to detection of gesture 5186,both split keyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-B reduce in size (e.g., inwidth, height, or both width and height) in UI 5000KKK, as shown in FIG.5KKK, and the keys in split keyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-B rescalein accordance with the size reduction of split keyboard portions 5039-Aand 5039-B, respectively. Center area 5039-C also increases in size as aresult.

FIG. 5LLL depicts UI 5000LLL, which shows gesture 5188 being detected ondisplay 112 while in the reconfiguration mode, in some otherembodiments. Gesture 5188 includes a left thumb contact moving away fromthe left edge of display 112. In response to detection of gesture 5188,both split keyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-B increase in size (e.g.,in width, height, or both width and height) in UI 5000MMM, as shown inFIG. 5MMM, and the keys in split keyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-Brescale in accordance with the size increase of split keyboard portions5039-A and 5039-B, respectively. Center area 5039-C also decreases insize as a result.

FIG. 5NNN depicts UI 5000NNN, where gesture 5190 is detected on display112. In some embodiments, gesture 5190 is a two-thumb tap gesture, withone thumb on location 5190-A over split keyboard portion 5039-A and theother thumb on location 5190-B over split keyboard portion 5039-B. Inresponse to detection of gesture 5190, device 100 exits thereconfiguration mode for integrated input area 5039.

It should be appreciated that, while the details of FIGS. 5A and 5NNNwere described in the context of display 112 in portrait orientation,the details of FIGS. 5A-5NNN also apply in an analogous manner to adisplay (e.g., display 112) in landscape orientation.

FIGS. 6A-6B are flow diagrams illustrating a method 600 of replacing anunsplit keyboard with an integrated input area in accordance with someembodiments. The method 600 is performed at an electronic device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3, or portable multifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the displayis a touch screen display and the touch-sensitive surface is on thedisplay. In some embodiments, the display is separate from thetouch-sensitive surface. Some operations in method 600 may be combinedand/or the order of some operations may be changed.

As described below, the method 600 provides an intuitive way to replacean unsplit keyboard with an integrated input area for text entry. Themethod is particularly useful when a user is typing with a tabletcomputer and wants to change from using an unsplit keyboard (e.g., forten-finger typing when the tablet computer is resting on a solidsurface) to using an integrated input area with a split keyboard (e.g.,for two-thumb typing when the tablet computer is being held by theuser's remaining eight fingers) or vice versa. The method reduces thecognitive burden on a user when manipulating soft keyboards, therebycreating a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-operatedelectronic devices, enabling a user to manipulate a soft keyboard fasterand more efficiently conserves power and increases the time betweenbattery charges.

The device concurrently displays (602) a first text entry area (e.g., inan application content area) and an unsplit keyboard (e.g. a single,unitary, or merged keyboard that includes character keys from the leftand right sides of a split keyboard) on the display. FIG. 5A, forexample, shows text entry area 5002 and unsplit soft keyboard 5008 beingdisplayed concurrently on display 112.

The device detects (604) a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface. Forexample, in FIG. 5A, gesture 5010 or 5014 is detected on display 112,which is a touch screen.

In some embodiments, the gesture is (606) a multifinger (i.e., more thanone finger) depinch gesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surfacethat corresponds to the location of the unsplit keyboard on the display.For example, in FIG. 5A, gesture 5010 is a two-finger depinch gesture onunsplit soft keyboard 5008. In some embodiments, the two-finger depinchgesture requires symmetric horizontal movement (or movement within apredetermined angle of horizontal, such as 5°, 10°, 15° or 20°) on thetouch-sensitive surface. Requiring symmetric horizontal movement helpsfilter out anchored depinch gestures where only one touch moves,non-horizontal depinch gestures, and other gestures that may not beintended to replace the unsplit keyboard with an integrated input area.

In some embodiments, the gesture is (608) a tap gesture on a keyboardselection icon (e.g., a finger tap gesture on an icon that togglesbetween the unsplit keyboard, the integrated input area, and possiblyother types of keyboard input areas; a finger tap gesture on an iconthat activates replacement of the unsplit keyboard with the integratedinput area). For example, in FIG. 5A, gesture 5014 is a tap gesture onkeyboard split key 5012, which shows an icon of two halves moving apartin a split.

In response to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface, thedevice replaces (610) the unsplit keyboard with an integrated inputarea. The integrated input area includes a left portion with a left sideof a split keyboard, a right portion with a right side of the splitkeyboard, and a center portion in between the left portion and the rightportion. For example, in FIGS. 5A-5C, in response to detection ofgesture 5010, unsplit soft keyboard 5008 is replaced with integratedinput area 5016. Integrated input area 5016 includes left split keyboardportion 5016-A, right split keyboard portion 5016-B, and center area5016-C situated between the left and right portions 5016-A, 5016-B.

In some embodiments, the width of the integrated input area is the same(or substantially the same, e.g., 90% or 95%) as the width of thedisplay. This width makes the left side of the split keyboard moreaccessible to the left thumb of a user. Similarly, this width makes theright side of the split keyboard more accessible to the right thumb of auser.

In some embodiments, the integrated input area is visually distinguishedfrom other user interface elements in the display, for example byproviding the left portion, center portion, and right portion of theintegrated input area with a common distinct shading, background coloror pattern, and/or by providing a distinctive border around the leftportion, center portion, and right portion of the integrated input area.

In some embodiments, the integrated input area includes a second textentry area (612). The second text entry area typically displays aduplicate portion of the first text entry area, such as an area near thecursor in first text entry area. For example, the second text entry areamay contain a duplicate of the cursor/insertion point in the first textentry area and one or more words from the most recent text entered bythe user adjacent to the cursor/insertion point. For example, integratedinput area 5016 includes center area 5016-C. Center area 5016-C displaysduplicate input text 5022, making center area 5016-C a second text entryarea to the first text entry area 5002.

In some embodiment, the first text entry area displays (614) text at afirst size, and the second text entry area displays a portion of thetext in the first text entry area at a second size that is larger thanthe first size. For example, in FIG. 5C, duplicate text input 5022 isdisplayed in center area 5016-C at a larger size than input text 5006 intext entry area 5002.

In some embodiments, while displaying the integrated input area, thedevice detects (616) a gesture (e.g., a tap gesture 5026 on the “T” key5024, FIG. 5D) at a location on the touch-sensitive surface thatcorresponds to a location of a character key in the split keyboard. Inresponse to detecting the gesture at the location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to the location of the character key in thesplit keyboard, the device inputs and concurrently displays (618) thecorresponding character in the first text entry area and the second textentry area on the display. For example, in FIG. 5D, in response todetection of gesture 5026, a character “t” is entered into input text5006 and duplicate input text 5022.

In some embodiments, replacing the unsplit keyboard with the integratedinput area includes displaying (620) an animation that transitions theunsplit keyboard to the integrated input area. For example, FIG. 5Bshows an instant in a transition animation from unsplit soft keyboard5008 to integrated input area 5016.

In some embodiments, the transition for each character key is a linearinterpolation between two states, the unsplit (or merged) state and thesplit state. In some embodiments, at least one character key isduplicated during the transition so that the left portion of the splitkeyboard and the right portion of the split keyboard contain at leastone common character key (e.g., the “g” keys 5019-A and 5019-B in FIG.5C). In some embodiments, some keys in the unsplit keyboard are notdisplayed in the split keyboard (e.g., hide keyboard key 5009 in theunsplit keyboard (FIG. 5A) is not displayed in the split keyboard (FIG.5C)). In some embodiments, during the animated transition to theintegrated input area, keys that are not displayed in the split keyboardappear to be pushed off-screen as they fade to zero opacity during thetransition.

In some embodiments, while displaying the integrated input area, thedevice detects (622) a second gesture on the touch-sensitive surface(e.g., a gesture 5028 or 5032 on display 112, FIG. 5E).

In some embodiments, the second gesture is (624) a multifinger (i.e.,more than one finger) pinch gesture at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to the location of the integrated input area onthe display. For example, in FIG. 5E, gesture 5028 is a two-finger pinchgesture on display 112. In some embodiments, the two-finger pinchgesture requires symmetric horizontal movement (or movement within apredetermined angle of horizontal, such as 5°, 10°, 15° or 20°) on thetouch-sensitive surface. Requiring symmetric horizontal movement helpsfilter out anchored pinch gestures where only one touch moves,non-horizontal pinch gestures, and other gestures that may not beintended to replace the integrated input area with the unsplit keyboard.

In some embodiments, the second gesture is (626) a tap gesture on akeyboard selection icon (e.g., a finger tap gesture on an icon thattoggles between the unsplit keyboard, the integrated input area, andpossibly other types of keyboard input areas; a finger tap gesture on anicon that activates replacement of the unsplit keyboard with theintegrated input area). For example, in FIG. 5E, gesture 5032 is a tapgesture on keyboard unsplit key 5018, which shows an icon of two halvesmerging together.

In response to detecting the second gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface, the device replaces (628) the integrated input area with theunsplit keyboard. For example, in FIGS. 5E-5G, in response to gesture5028 or 5032, integrated input area 5016 is replaced with unsplitkeyboard 5008.

In some embodiments, replacing the integrated input area with theunsplit keyboard includes displaying (630) an animation that transitionsthe integrated input area to the unsplit keyboard. For example, FIG. 5Fshows an instant in a transition animation from integrated input area5016 to unsplit soft keyboard 5008.

In some embodiments, the electronic device is (632) a portableelectronic device (e.g., a tablet computer such as the iPad® device fromApple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). For example, device 100 or 300 may bea portable tablet computer.

In some embodiments, the display is (634) a touch-sensitive display thatincludes the touch-sensitive surface. For example, display 112 is atouch screen.

Details in method 600 apply to the methods described below, and areomitted for brevity.

FIGS. 7A-7B are flow diagrams illustrating a method 700 of responding toa keyboard selection gesture in accordance with some embodiments. Themethod 700 is performed at an electronic device (e.g., device 300, FIG.3, or portable multifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with a display and atouch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the display is a touchscreen display and the touch-sensitive surface is on the display. Insome embodiments, the display is separate from the touch-sensitivesurface. Some operations in method 700 may be combined and/or the orderof some operations may be changed.

As described below, the method 700 provides a way to preventaccidentally changing soft keyboards while typing (e.g., from an unsplitkeyboard to an integrated input area with a split keyboard, or viceversa). The method reduces the cognitive burden on a user whenmanipulating and using soft keyboards, thereby creating a more efficienthuman-machine interface. For battery-operated electronic devices,enabling a user to manipulate and use soft keyboards faster and moreefficiently conserves power and increases the time between batterycharges.

The device displays (702) a first keyboard on the display, the firstkeyboard comprising a first plurality of keys (e.g. a split keyboard or,conversely, a single, unitary, or merged keyboard that includescharacter keys from the left and right portions of the split keyboard).For example, in FIG. 5H, unsplit keyboard 5008 is displayed. Unsplitkeyboard 5008 includes a plurality of letter keys, an example of whichis “T” key 5036.

The device detects (704) a key activation gesture at a first time at alocation on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a locationof a first key in the first keyboard (e.g., a tap gesture 5038 on the“T” key 5036, FIG. 5H).

In response to detecting the key activation gesture at the first time,the device activates (706) the first key (e.g., entering a characterthat corresponds to the first key or performing an action thatcorresponds to the first key). For example, in FIGS. 5H-5I, in responseto gesture 5038 on “T” key 536, a character “t” is entered into inputtext 5006.

In some embodiments, in response to detecting the key activation gestureat the first time, the device disables (708) a gesture recognizer forthe keyboard selection gesture for the predefined period of time. Forexample, in FIG. 5H, in response to detection of gesture 5038, thedevice disables a gesture recognizer for the keyboard selection gesturefor the predefined period of time.

The device detects (710) one or more contacts on the touch-sensitivesurface at a second time after the first time, the one or more contactscorresponding to a keyboard selection gesture. For example, in FIG. 5I,gesture 5010, which includes two contacts, is detected.

In some embodiments, the keyboard selection gesture is (712) amultifinger gesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surface thatcorresponds to the location of the first keyboard on the display. Forexample, in FIG. 5I, gesture 5010 is a two-finger depinch gesture onunsplit soft keyboard 5008.

In response to detecting the one or more contacts that correspond to thekeyboard selection gesture at the second time after the first time, thedevice replaces (714) the first keyboard with a second keyboard when thesecond time exceeds a predefined period of time after the first time.

In some embodiments, replacing the first keyboard with the secondkeyboard includes displaying (716) an animation that transitions thefirst keyboard to the second keyboard. For example, FIG. 5J shows aninstant in a transition animation from unsplit soft keyboard 5008 tointegrated input area 5016.

In some embodiments, although the contacts that correspond to a keyboardselection gesture are detected on the touch-sensitive surface, thekeyboard selection gesture is not recognized because the gesturerecognizers for the keyboard selection gesture are disabled for apredefined period of time after a key activation gesture is detected.

In response to detecting the one or more contacts that correspond to thekeyboard selection gesture at the second time after the first time, thedevice maintains (718) display of the first keyboard when the secondtime is less than the predefined period of time after the first time.

For example, in response to detecting a multifinger pinch gesture toselect a merged keyboard when a split keyboard is currently displayed,the split keyboard is replaced by the merged keyboard if more than apredefined period of time (e.g., 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 seconds or someother reasonable period of time) has elapsed since a key in the splitkeyboard was activated. But the split keyboard remains displayed if lessthan the predefined period of time has elapsed since a key in the splitkeyboard was activated, thereby preventing accidentally changing thekeyboard when the user is actively typing. Conversely, in response todetecting a multifinger depinch gesture to select a split keyboard whena merged keyboard is currently displayed, the merged keyboard isreplaced by the split keyboard if more than the predefined period oftime has elapsed since a key in the merged keyboard was activated. Butthe merged keyboard remains displayed if less than the predefined periodof time has elapsed since a key in the merged keyboard was activated.

As an example, in FIGS. 5H-5I, if the time period from gesture 5038 togesture 5010 exceeds the predefined period of time, then unsplit softkeyboard 5008 is replaced with split soft keyboard area 5016, as shownin FIG. 5K. If the time period from gesture 5038 to gesture 5010 doesnot exceeds the predefined period of time, then unsplit soft keyboard5008 remains displayed.

In some embodiments, the electronic device is (720) a portableelectronic device (e.g., a tablet computer). For example, device 100 or300 may be a portable tablet computer.

In some embodiments, the display is (722) a touch-sensitive display thatincludes the touch-sensitive surface. For example, display 112 is atouch screen.

FIGS. 8A-8B are flow diagrams illustrating a method 800 of moving anintegrated input area in accordance with some embodiments. The method800 is performed at an electronic device (e.g., device 300, FIG. 3, orportable multifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with a display and atouch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the display is a touchscreen display and the touch-sensitive surface is on the display. Insome embodiments, the display is separate from the touch-sensitivesurface. Some operations in method 800 may be combined and/or the orderof some operations may be changed.

As described below, the method 800 provides a way to prevent accidentalmovement of an integrated input area when a user contact moves duringtyping with the split keyboard. The method reduces the cognitive burdenon a user when repositioning and using an integrated input area thatincludes a split keyboard, thereby creating a more efficienthuman-machine interface. For battery-operated electronic devices,enabling a user to reposition and use a soft keyboard faster and moreefficiently conserves power and increases the time between batterycharges.

The device concurrently displays (802) a first text entry area and anintegrated input area on the display, the integrated input areaincluding: a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard, a rightportion with a right side of the split keyboard, and a center portion inbetween the left portion and the right portion. For example, in FIG. 5L,text entry area 5002 and integrated input area 5039 are displayed ondisplay 112. Integrated input area 5039 includes left split keyboardportion 5039-A, right split keyboard portion 5039-B, and center area5039-C between left and right split keyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-B.

The device detects (804) a first contact on the touch-sensitive surfaceat a location that corresponds to the center portion of the integratedinput area. For example, in FIG. 5L, a finger contact corresponding togesture 5040 is detected at position 5040-1 in center area 5039-C.

The device detects (806) movement of the first contact along thetouch-sensitive surface. For example, in FIG. 5L, the finger contact ingesture 5040 moves from position 5040-1 to position 5040-2.

In response to detecting movement of the first contact along thetouch-sensitive surface, the device moves (808) the integrated inputarea in accordance with the movement of the first contact when themovement of the first contact exceeds a first movement threshold. Forexample, in FIGS. 5L-5M, when the movement of gesture 5040 exceedsthreshold 5042, then integrated input area 5039 moves in accordance withthe movement gesture 5040.

The device detects (810) a second contact, distinct from the firstcontact, on the touch-sensitive surface at a location that correspondsto the split keyboard. For example, in FIG. 5L, a finger contactcorresponding to gesture 5044 is detected at position 5044-1 in rightsplit keyboard portion 5039-B.

The device detects (812) movement of the second contact along thetouch-sensitive surface. For example, in FIG. 5L, the finger contact ingesture 5044 moves from position 5044-1 to position 5044-2.

In response to detecting movement of the second contact along thetouch-sensitive surface, the device moves (814) the integrated inputarea in accordance with the movement of the second contact when themovement of the second contact exceeds a second movement threshold, thesecond movement threshold being greater than the first movementthreshold. For example, in FIGS. 5L-5M, when the movement of gesture5044 exceeds threshold distance 5046 (or threshold distance 5048,depending on the implementation), then integrated input area 5039 movesin accordance with the movement gesture 5044.

In some embodiments, a respective movement threshold is a function of ahorizontal distance of a respective contact from a vertical centerlineof the integrated input area (816). For example, in FIG. 5N, charts 5050and 5058 show the threshold distance as a function of distance from thecenterline of integrated input area 5039. In some embodiments, themovement threshold increases as the horizontal distance of the contactfrom the vertical centerline increases. For example, in FIG. 5L,threshold distance 5046 in right soft keyboard portion 5039-B is greaterthan threshold distance 5042 in center area 5039-C. As another example.chart 5058 in FIG. 5N shows the threshold distance varying linearly withdistance from a centerline of integrated input area 5039.

In some embodiments, the integrated input area is constrained tovertical movement on the display (e.g., when the width of the integratedinput area is the same (or substantially the same, e.g., 90% or 95%) asthe width of the display) and the integrated input area moves inaccordance with a vertical component of movement of a respective contactwhen a movement threshold for the respective contact is exceeded (818).For example, in FIG. 5L-5M, even with gesture 5044 having an angularmovement (and thus having a horizontal component and a verticalcomponent), movement of integrated input area 5039 is constrained tovertical movement. The horizontal movement of gesture 5044 is ignored.

In some embodiments, the left side of the split keyboard and the rightside of the split keyboard maintain fixed positions relative to eachother within the integrated input area during movement of the integratedinput area (820). For example, in FIGS. 5L-5M, left and right splitkeyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-B remain in fixed positions relativeto each other during the movement.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 900 of moving an inputarea and adjusting the size of an application content area in accordancewith some embodiments. The method 900 is performed at an electronicdevice (e.g., device 300, FIG. 3, or portable multifunction device 100,FIG. 1) with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. In someembodiments, the display is a touch screen display and thetouch-sensitive surface is on the display. In some embodiments, thedisplay is separate from the touch-sensitive surface. Some operations inmethod 900 may be combined and/or the order of some operations may bechanged.

As described below, the method 900 provides a way to increase the sizeof an application content area (e.g., an application view or window)when an input area with a keyboard is moved from the bottom of adisplay. The method is particularly useful when a user is typing with atablet computer with a limited display area because it allows for moreof an application to be viewed, thereby creating a more efficienthuman-machine interface. For battery-operated electronic devices,enabling a user to manipulate a soft keyboard and see more of anapplication lets the user work faster, which conserves power andincreases the time between battery charges.

The device concurrently displays (902) on the display an applicationcontent area with a first size and an input area with a keyboard (e.g.,a split keyboard or a merged keyboard), with the input area beingadjacent to and separate from the application content area with thefirst size and the input area being at a bottom of the display. Forexample, in FIG. 5O, application content area 5062 with height 5064 andintegrated input area 5039 with height 5065 are displayed. Integratedinput area 5039 is docked at the bottom of display 112 and is adjacentto and separate from application content area 5062.

The device detects (904) a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,an upward flick or drag gesture at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to the input area at the bottom of thedisplay). For example, in FIG. 5O, gesture 5068, which is a dragginggesture, is detected on display 112.

In response to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface, thedevice moves (906) the input area away from the bottom of the displayover the application content area, and increases (908) the applicationcontent area to a second size larger than the first size. For example,in FIG. 5P, in response to detection of gesture 5068, integrated inputarea 5039 moves away from the bottom of display 112 and over applicationcontent area 5062. Additionally, application content area 5062 (FIG. 5P)increases in size to a size with height 5066, which is larger than thesize of the application content area with height 5064 (FIG. 5O).

In some embodiments, the first size of the application content area hasa first height, the second size of the application content area has asecond height, the input area has an input area height, and the secondheight is greater than the first height by an amount equal to (orsubstantially equal to (e.g., up to 5% or 10% difference)) the inputarea height (910). For example, in FIG. 5O, application content area5062 has height 5064, and integrated input area 5039 has height 5065. InFIG. 5P, application content area 5062 has height 5066, which is the sumof height 5064 and height 5065.

In other words, when the keyboard is “anchored” at the bottom of thescreen, an application treats the keyboard as being an area withnon-zero height that cannot be used to display the application contentarea. Thus, the application reduces the size of its application contentarea accordingly. But, when the keyboard is moved away from the bottomof the screen (becomes “unanchored” from the bottom of the display), theapplication treats the keyboard as being an area with zero height (eventhough the actual displayed height of the input area is non-zero) and sothe application increases its content display area to use more of thedisplay (e.g., to use all or substantially all of the display area).When unanchored, the keyboard floats over the application content area.The keyboard moves vertically in response to detecting an upward fingergesture. The keyboard may move with inertia if the velocity upon liftoffof the finger is above a predefined threshold.

FIGS. 10A-10B are flow diagrams illustrating a method 1000 of enteringcharacters with a split soft keyboard in accordance with someembodiments. The method 1000 is performed at an electronic device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3, or portable multifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the displayis a touch screen display and the touch-sensitive surface is on thedisplay. In some embodiments, the display is separate from thetouch-sensitive surface. Some operations in method 900 may be combinedand/or the order of some operations may be changed.

As described below, the method 1000 makes two-thumb typing with a splitkeyboard (e.g., on a tablet computer that is being held by the user'sremaining eight fingers) faster and more efficient by letting a usereasily activate certain keys on the right side of a split keyboard witha left thumb (and conversely, letting a user easily activate certainkeys on the left side of a split keyboard with a right thumb), therebycreating a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-operatedelectronic devices, enabling a two-thumb typist to enter characters in asplit soft keyboard faster and more efficiently conserves power andincreases the time between battery charges.

The device concurrently displays (1002) a text entry area, a left sideof a split keyboard, and a right side of a split keyboard, with the leftside of the split keyboard including a plurality of rows of keys and theright side of the split keyboard including a corresponding plurality ofrows of keys. A row of keys on the left side of the split keyboard and arow of keys on the right side of the keyboard are corresponding if therows belong in the same row in the unsplit keyboard corresponding to thesplit keyboard.

For example, in FIG. 5Q, text entry area 5002 and split soft keyboard5069 are displayed. Split soft keyboard 5069 includes left splitkeyboard portion 5069-A and right split keyboard portion 5069-B. Splitsoft keyboard 5069 includes letter keys arranged in accordance with theQWERTY layout. In left portion 5069-A, the top row of letter keysincludes “Q,” “W,” “E,” “R,” and “T” keys. The middle row of letter keysincludes “A,” “S,” “D,” and “F” keys. The lower row of letter keysincludes “Z,” “X,” “C,” and “V” keys. In right portion 5069-B, the toprow of letter keys include “Y,” “U,” “I,” “O,” and “P” keys. The middlerow of letter keys includes “G,” “H,” “J,” “K,” and “L” keys. The lowerrow of letter keys includes “B,” “N,” and “M” keys. The row with “Q,”“W,” “E,” “R,” and “T” keys on left portion 5069-A and the row with “Y,”“U,” “I,” “O,” and “P” keys on right portion 5069-B are correspondingbecause these rows belong to the same top row in an unsplit QWERTYkeyboard. Similarly, the row with “A,” “S,” “D,” and “F” keys correspondto the row with “G,” “H,” “J,” “K,” and “L” keys, and the row with “Z,”“X,” “C,” and “V” keys correspond to the row with “B,” “N,” and “M”keys. On the other hand, the row with “Q,” “W,” “E,” “R,” and “T” keyson left portion 5069-A does not correspond to the row with “G,” “H,”“J,” “K,” and “L” keys or to the row with “B,” “N,” and “M” keys inright portion 5069-B because they do not belong to the same row in anunsplit QWERTY keyboard.

The device (1004) detects a gesture at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to a predefined area adjacent to and to theright of a rightmost key in a respective row of the left side of thesplit keyboard. For example, in FIG. 5R, gesture 5098 is detected onpredefined key activation area 5086, which is to the right of “V” key5074 in the lower row of letter keys in left split keyboard portion5069-A.

In some embodiments, the predefined area adjacent to and to the right ofthe rightmost key in the respective row of the left side of the splitkeyboard is an undisplayed key activation area that corresponds to theleftmost key in the corresponding respective row of the right side ofthe split keyboard (1006). For example, in FIG. 5Q, key activation areas5082, 5084, and 5086, which are adjacent to and to right of keys 5070,5072, and 5074, respectively, correspond to keys 5076, 5078, and 5080,respectively.

In response to detecting the gesture at the location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the predefined area adjacentto and to the right of the rightmost key in the respective row of theleft side of the split keyboard, the device enters (1008) in the textentry area a character that corresponds to a leftmost key in acorresponding respective row of the right side of the split keyboard.For example, in FIGS. 5R-5S, in response to detection of gesture 5098, acharacter “b” is entered into input text 5006, as key activation area5086 corresponds to “B” key 5080 in right split keyboard portion 5069-B;“B” key 5080 is the leftmost key in the corresponding row in right splitkeyboard portion 5069-B.

If the leftmost key in the corresponding respective row of the rightside of the split keyboard is a duplicate of the rightmost key in therespective row of the left side of the split keyboard, then the keyadjacent to and to the right of the leftmost key in the correspondingrespective row of the right side of the split keyboard is enteredinstead. For example, returning to the lower rows of letter keys in leftand right split keyboard portions 5069-A and 5069-B in FIG. 5Q, ifundisplayed key activation area 5092 corresponding to “V” key 5074 isinstead a displayed duplicate “V” key, then in response to detection ofa gesture on key activation area 5086 to the right of the rightmost “V”key 5074 in the lower row in left portion 5069-A, a character “b”(corresponding to “B” key 5080) is entered instead of a character “v”corresponding to the duplicate “V” key.

In some embodiments, the device detects (1010) a gesture at a locationon the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a predefined areaadjacent to and to the left of a leftmost key in a respective row of theright side of the split keyboard. For example, in FIG. 5T, gesture 5100is detected on predefined key activation area 5088, which is to the leftof the rightmost “Y” key in the top row of letter keys in right splitkeyboard portion 5069-B.

In some embodiments, the predefined area adjacent to and to the left ofthe leftmost key in the respective row of the right side of the splitkeyboard is an undisplayed key activation area that corresponds to therightmost key in the corresponding respective row of the left side ofthe split keyboard (1012). For example, in FIG. 5Q, key activation areas5088, 5090, and 5092, which are adjacent to and to left of keys 5076,5078, and 5080, respectively, correspond to keys 5070, 5072, and 5074,respectively.

In response to detecting the gesture at the location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the predefined area adjacentto and to the left of the leftmost key in the respective row of theright side of the split keyboard, the device enters (1014) in the textentry area a character that corresponds to a rightmost key in acorresponding respective row of the left side of the split keyboard. Forexample, in FIGS. 5T-5U, in response to detection of gesture 5100, acharacter “t” is entered into input text 5006, as key activation area5088 corresponds to “T” key 5070 in left split keyboard portion 5069-A;“T” key 5070 is the rightmost key in the corresponding row in left splitkeyboard portion 5069-B.

If the rightmost key in the corresponding respective row of the leftside of the split keyboard is a duplicate of the leftmost key in therespective row of the right side of the split keyboard, then the keyadjacent to and to the left of the rightmost key in the correspondingrespective row of the left side of the split keyboard is enteredinstead. For example, in the middle rows of letter keys in left andright split keyboard portions 5069-A and 5069-B in FIG. 5Q, ifundisplayed key activation area 5084 corresponding to “G” key 5078 isinstead a displayed duplicate “G” key, then in response to detection ofa gesture on key activation area 5090 to the left of the leftmost “G”key 5078 in the middle row in right portion 5069-B, a character “f”(corresponding to “F” key 5072) is entered instead of a character “g”corresponding to the duplicate “G” key.

In some embodiments, prior to detecting the gesture, the device detects(1016) a key activation gesture at a first time at a location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a location of a visible keyin the split keyboard. For example, in FIGS. 5Q-5R, prior to detectionof gesture 5098, gesture 5096 is detected on “O” key 5094. A character“o” is entered into input text 5006 in response to detection of gesture5096.

In response to detecting the gesture at a second time after the firsttime, the device enters (1018) in the text entry area the character thatcorresponds to the leftmost key in the corresponding respective row ofthe right side of the split keyboard when the second time is less than apredefined period of time after the first time, but the device foregoes(1020) entering in the text entry area the character that corresponds tothe leftmost key in the corresponding respective row of the right sideof the split keyboard when the second time exceeds the predefined periodof time after the first time. In some embodiments, the undisplayed keysareas are only activatable when the user is actively typing, asdetermined by detecting activation of visible keys in the split keyboardwithin a predefined period of time (e.g., 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 seconds orsome other reasonable period of time) of detecting the gesture in theundisplayed key area. When the gesture in the undisplayed key area isdetected after the predefined period of time has elapsed since detectingactivation of a visible key, the character corresponding to theundisplayed key is not entered. This prevents accidental text entry ofcharacters that correspond to the undisplayed key areas when the user isnot actively typing.

For example, if the time period between when gesture 5096 is detectedand when gesture 5098 is detected is less than a predefined period oftime, then a character “b” is entered in response to gesture 5098. Onthe other hand, if the time period between when gesture 5096 is detectedand when gesture 5098 is detected is more than the predefined period oftime, then the character “b” is not entered in response to gesture 5098.

FIGS. 11A-11D are flow diagrams illustrating a method 1100 of using acenter portion of an integrated input area in accordance with someembodiments. The method 1100 is performed at an electronic device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3, or portable multifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the displayis a touch screen display and the touch-sensitive surface is on thedisplay. In some embodiments, the display is separate from thetouch-sensitive surface. Some operations in method 1100 may be combinedand/or the order of some operations may be changed.

As described below, the method 1100 provides a way to use the centerportion of an integrated input area to make character entry faster andmore efficient. The method is particularly useful when a user isperforming two-thumb typing with a tablet computer. The method makesadditional character entry functions readily accessible to the user'sthumbs, thereby creating a more efficient human-machine interface. Forbattery-operated electronic devices, enabling a user to performcharacter entry faster and more efficiently conserves power andincreases the time between battery charges.

The device concurrently displays (1102) a first text entry area and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard, and a center portion with a secondtext entry area, the center portion in between the left portion and theright portion. For example, in FIG. 5V, text entry area 5002 andintegrated input area 5016 are displayed on display 112. Integratedinput area 5016 includes left split keyboard portion 5016-A, right splitkeyboard portion 5016-B, and center area 5016-C between left and rightportions 5016-A and 5016-B. Center area 5016-C serves as a second textentry area, as duplicate cursor 5020 and duplicate input text 5022 aredisplayed in center area 5016-C.

The device detects (1104) a gesture at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to a location of a character key in the splitkeyboard (e.g., a tap gesture 5102 on “T” key 5024 key on left portion5016-A, FIG. 5V).

In response to detecting the gesture at the location on thetouch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the location of thecharacter key in the split keyboard, the device inputs and concurrentlydisplays (1106) the corresponding character in the first text entry areaand the second text entry area on the display. In FIG. 5W, in responseto detection of gesture 5102 on “T” key 5024, a character “t” is enteredinto input text 5006 and concurrently displayed. A character “t” is alsoentered into duplicate input text 5022 and concurrently displayed incenter area 5016-C. Having a second text entry area in the centerportion of the integrated input area that shows a portion of the textbeing entered in the first text entry area makes text input faster, moreefficient, and less stressful by reducing the amount of eye movementwhen a user is thumb typing with the split keyboard.

In some embodiments, the first text entry area displays text at a firstsize, and the second text entry area displays a portion of the text inthe first text entry area at a second size that is larger than the firstsize (1108). For example, in FIG. 5V, duplicate text input 5022 isdisplayed in center area 5016-C at a larger size than input text 5006 intext entry area 5002.

In some embodiments, the width of the integrated input area is the same(or substantially the same, e.g., 90% or 95%) as the width of thedisplay (1110). Integrated input area 5016 in FIG. 5V, for example, hasa width that spans the width of display 112.

In some embodiments, the left side of the split keyboard and the rightside of the split keyboard maintain fixed positions relative to eachother within the integrated input area during movement of the integratedinput area (1112). Having the left and right portions maintain fixedpositions relative to each other keeps the left and right portions atrelative positions on the display that are more familiar to the use, andthus less cognitive readjustment is needed on the part of the user tomaintain typing efficiency.

For example, FIG. 5M shows integrated input area 5039 moving in responseto detection of a gesture (e.g., gesture 5040). Within integrated inputarea 5039, left portion 5039-A and right portion 5039-B maintain fixedpositions relative to each other during the movement. Integrated inputareas 5039 and 5016 are similar, and thus when integrated input area5016 moves, left and right portions 5016-A and 5016-B maintain fixedpositions relative to each other.

In some embodiments, the second text entry area includes an insertionpoint that remains stationary on the display as text is entered (1114).A stationary insertion point in the second text entry area provides astable focal point for the user that helps reduce lateral eye movement.For example, in FIG. 5X-5Y, duplicate cursor 5020 is stationary withincenter area 5016-C; when the position of duplicate 5020 relative toduplicate input text 5022 changes, duplicate input text 5022 isdisplayed as advancing or retreating relative to duplicate cursor 5020.

In some embodiments, the second text entry area includes an insertionpoint (1116). The device detects (1118) a gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface at a location that corresponds to the insertion point in thesecond text entry area, and moves (1120) the insertion point in thesecond text entry area in accordance with the gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at the location that corresponds to theinsertion point in the second text entry area. The insertion point inthe first text entry area is also moved in accordance with the gestureon the touch-sensitive surface at the location that corresponds to theinsertion point in the second text entry area. For example, a leftwardswipe moves the insertion point to the beginning of a word, while arightward swipe moves the insertion point to the end of a word.Adjusting the insertion point via gestures in the second text entry areahas the advantage of requiring the user to move their thumb only a smalldistance from where they are typing (versus the alternative of reachingto the first text entry area (or a menu bar at the top of the display)each time an adjustment is needed.

For example, in FIG. 5X-5Y, gesture 5102, moving in direction 5103, isdetected on duplicate cursor 5020 in center area 5016-C. In response todetection of gesture 5102, duplicate cursor 5020 changes positionrelative to duplicate input text 5022 within center area 5016-C inaccordance with gesture 5102 (and cursor 5004 does the same relative toinput text 5006).

In some embodiments, the device displays (1122) text editing controls(e.g., icons, or graphical or user interface objects for selecting,cutting, copying, and/or pasting text) in the center portion of theintegrated input area. In some embodiments, the text editing controls inthe center portion of the integrated input area have corresponding textediting controls in the first text entry area (1124). For example, thetext editing controls in the center portion may be duplicates of textediting controls in the first text entry area. For example, in FIG. 5Z,text editing control 5104, corresponding to text editing control 5106,is displayed in text entry area 5002. In some embodiments, the devicedetects (1126) a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at a locationthat corresponds to a text editing control in the center portion of theintegrated input area, and executes (1128) a text editing command inaccordance with the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at thelocation that corresponds to the text editing control. Editing the textvia gestures in the center portion of the integrated input area has theadvantage of requiring the user to move their thumb only a smalldistance from where they are typing (versus the alternative of reachingto the first text entry area (or a menu bar at the top of the display)each time an edit function is needed.

For example, in FIG. 5Z-5AA, text editing control 5106 corresponding toa paste operation is displayed in center area 5016-C. Gesture 5108 ontext editing control 5106 is detected in center area 516-C. In responseto detection of gesture 5108, a paste operation is executed; text“ahead” is pasted into duplicate text 5022 and input text 5006.

In some embodiments, the device displays (1130) user-selectable inputelements (e.g., radio buttons, check boxes, pick lists, time pickers,and/or date pickers) in the center portion of the integrated input area,detects (1132) a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at a locationthat corresponds to a user-selectable input element in the centerportion of the integrated input area, and, in response to detecting thegesture on the touch-sensitive surface at the location that correspondsto the user-selectable input element, selects (1134) the user-selectableinput element. Selecting radio buttons, check boxes, items in picklists, times and dates via gestures in the center portion of theintegrated input area has the advantage of requiring the user to movetheir thumb only a small distance from where they are typing each time aselection is needed.

For example, in FIG. 5BB-5CC, form 5110 is displayed in text entry area5002. Form 5110 includes checkboxes 5112, each respective checkboxcorresponding to an option in the form. At least some of checkboxes 5112are displayed in center area 5016-C as duplicate checkboxes 5116.Gesture 5118 is detected on duplicate checkbox 5116-A in center area5016-C. In response to detection of gesture 5118, checkbox 5116-A isselected.

In some embodiments, the device detects (1136) a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to the centerportion of the integrated input area (e.g., a tap gesture on an icon toactivate a popup menu or a predefined multifinger gesture within thecenter portion), and, in response to detecting the gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at the location that corresponds to the centerportion of the integrated input area, displays (1138) a popup view.Accessing a popup view (e.g., a window or menu in an application) via agesture in the center portion of the integrated input area has theadvantage of requiring the user to move their thumb only a smalldistance from where they are typing (versus the alternative of reachingto the first text entry area (or a menu bar at the top of the display)each time a popup view is needed.

For example, in FIGS. 5DD-5EE, gesture 5120 is detected in center area5016-C. In response to detection of gesture 5120, popup menu 5124 isdisplayed. In some embodiments, popup menu 5122, corresponding to popupmenu 5124, is displayed in text entry area 5002.

In some embodiments, the device detects (1140) a plurality of gestureson the touch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to thecenter portion of the integrated input area (e.g., a series of fingerstrokes and taps that correspond to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or othercharacters), and enters (1142) in the first text entry area and thesecond text entry area a character that corresponds to the plurality ofgestures. Exemplary characters include alphabetic characters, numericcharacters, symbols, punctuation characters, Arabic script characters,Cyrillic characters, Greek characters, emoji symbols, emoticon symbols,Asian characters such as sinographs, Japanese Kanji, katakana, orhiragana, etc., Devanagari characters, Perso-Arabic characters, Gurmukhicharacters, and Hebrew characters. Drawing characters via gestures inthe center portion of the integrated input area has the advantage ofrequiring the user to move their finger only a small distance from wherethey are typing.

For example, in FIGS. 5FF-5GG, one or more gestures 5128 correspondingto handwriting 5126 are detected in center area 5016-C. Character “

” corresponding to handwriting 5126 is entered into input text 5006 andduplicate input text 5022.

In some embodiments, the device detects (1144) a plurality of gestureson the touch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to thecenter portion of the integrated input area (e.g., a series of fingerstrokes and taps that correspond to a simple drawing), and makes (1146)a drawing in accordance with the plurality of gestures. Drawing viagestures in the center portion of the integrated input area has theadvantage of requiring the user to move their finger only a smalldistance from where they are typing.

For example, in FIGS. 5HH-5II, one or more gestures 5132 correspondingto drawing 5130 are detected in center area 5016-C. Drawing 5133,corresponding to drawing 5130 is entered into input text 5006.

In some embodiments, the device displays (1148) a suggested word in thecenter portion of the integrated input area (e.g., a word automaticallysuggested to complete or correct a series of characters displayed in thefirst text entry area and the second text entry area), detects (1150) agesture on the touch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds tothe suggested word, and executes (1152) a text editing command inaccordance with the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at thelocation that corresponds to the suggested word. In some embodiments,tapping the suggested word accepts and inputs the suggested word. Insome embodiments, tapping the suggested word (or an X icon) rejects andterminates display of the suggested word. Editing the text via gesturesin the center portion of the integrated input area has the advantage ofrequiring the user to move their thumb only a small distance from wherethey are typing (versus the alternative of reaching to the first textentry area (or a menu bar at the top of the display) each time an editfunction is needed.

For example, in FIGS. 5JJ-5KK, suggested word 5134 is displayed in textentry area 5002, and duplicate suggested word 5136, corresponding tosuggested word 5134, is displayed in center area 5016-C. Suggested word5136 is displayed with X icon 5137. Gesture 5138 is detected on X icon5137 associated with suggested word 5136. In response to detection ofgesture 5138, suggested word 5136 is rejected and display of suggestedword 5136 and suggested word 5134 are terminated.

In some embodiments, the device displays (1154) a plurality of emojicharacters in the center portion of the integrated input area, detects(1156) a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at a location thatcorresponds to an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters(e.g., a tap gesture on the emoji character), and, in response todetecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at the locationthat corresponds to the emoji character, inputs and displays (1158) theemoji character in the first text entry area and the second text entryarea on the display. Entering emoji characters via gestures in thecenter portion of the integrated input area has the advantage ofrequiring the user to move their thumb only a small distance from wherethey are typing (versus the alternative of reaching to the first textentry area (or a menu bar at the top of the display) each time an emojicharacter is needed.

For example, in FIGS. 5LL-5MM, emoji characters 5140, including emojicharacter 5140-A, are displayed in text entry area 5002. Duplicate emojicharacters 5142 are displayed in center area 5016-C. Duplicate emojicharacter 5142-A is a duplicate of emoji character 5140-A. Gesture 5144is detected on duplicate emoji character 5142-A. In response todetection of gesture 5144, emoji character 5140-A is entered into inputtext 5006 and displayed, and duplicate emoji character 5142-A is enteredinto duplicate input text 5022 and displayed.

In some embodiments, the device displays (1160) a plurality of unicodecharacters in the center portion of the integrated input area, detects(1162) a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at a location thatcorresponds to a unicode character in the plurality of unicodecharacters (e.g., a tap gesture on the unicode character), and, inresponse to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at thelocation that corresponds to the unicode character, inputs and displays(1164) the unicode character in the first text entry area and the secondtext entry area on the display. Entering unicode characters via gesturesin the center portion of the integrated input area has the advantage ofrequiring the user to move their thumb only a small distance from wherethey are typing (versus the alternative of reaching to the first textentry area (or a menu bar at the top of the display) each time a unicodecharacter is needed.

For example, in FIGS. 5NN-5OO, unicode characters 5146, includingunicode character 5146-A, are displayed in text entry area 5002.Duplicate unicode characters 5148 are displayed in center area 5016-C.Duplicate unicode character 5148-A is a duplicate of unicode character5146-A. Gesture 5149 is detected on duplicate unicode character 5148-A.In response to detection of gesture 5149, unicode character 5146-A isentered into input text 5006 and displayed, and duplicate unicodecharacter 5148-A is entered into duplicate input text 5022 anddisplayed.

In some embodiments, the device detects (1166) a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to the secondtext entry area (e.g., a tap and drag gesture over text in the secondtext entry area), and, in response to detecting the gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at the location that corresponds to the secondtext entry area, selects (1168) a range of text. Selecting text viagestures in the center portion of the integrated input area has theadvantage of requiring the user to move their thumb only a smalldistance from where they are typing.

For example, in FIGS. 5PP-5QQ, gesture 5150 is detected over duplicateinput text 5022 in center area 5016-C. Gesture 5150 includes a tap anddrag gesture from position 5150-A to position 5150-B. In response togesture 5150, duplicate input text 5022 is selected, as indicated byhighlighting 5154.

In some embodiments, the device detects (1170) a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface at a location that corresponds to one or morewords in the second text entry area (e.g., a swipe or double-tap gestureon a word in the second text entry area), and, in response to detectingthe gesture on the touch-sensitive surface at the location thatcorresponds to the second text entry area, formats (1172) the one ormore words. Formatting text via gestures in the center portion of theintegrated input area has the advantage of requiring the user to movetheir thumb only a small distance from where they are typing.

For example, in FIGS. 5RR-5SS, gesture 5156 is detected on word “gotten”in duplicate input text 5022, in center area 5016-C. In response todetection of gesture 5156, the word “gotten” in duplicate input text5022 and the corresponding word in input text 5006 are formatted as boldtext.

In some embodiments, input elements in the center portion of theintegrated input area are user-configurable (e.g., via a tool bar orsettings menu) (1174). The various features described above with respectto the center portion (e.g., character handwriting, drawing, selectinguser selectable elements, text editing operations, etc.) may beselectively enabled by a user. For example, in FIG. 5TT, an options pageshowing 5158 showing the available input elements for center area 5016-Cis displayed. Options page 5158 includes input element options forcenter area 5016-C and corresponding checkboxes for enabling ordisabling those options.

FIGS. 12A-12B are flow diagrams illustrating a method 1200 of moving aninput area that includes a keyboard over an application content area inaccordance with some embodiments. The method 1200 is performed at anelectronic device (e.g., device 300, FIG. 3, or portable multifunctiondevice 100, FIG. 1) with a display and a touch-sensitive surface. Insome embodiments, the display is a touch screen display and thetouch-sensitive surface is on the display. In some embodiments, thedisplay is separate from the touch-sensitive surface. Some operations inmethod 1200 may be combined and/or the order of some operations may bechanged.

As described below, the method 1200 provides a way to use an impreciseflick gesture to precisely and automatically place a soft keyboard justbelow a text entry area in an application. The method reduces thecognitive burden on a user when positioning and using a soft keyboard,thereby creating a more efficient human-machine interface. Forbattery-operated electronic devices, enabling a user to manipulate asoft keyboard faster and more efficiently conserves power and increasesthe time between battery charges.

The device concurrently displays (1202) on the display an applicationcontent area that includes one or more text entry areas and an inputarea with a keyboard (e.g., a merged keyboard or an integrated inputarea with a split keyboard) that is displayed over the applicationcontent area. FIG. 5UU, for example, shows application content area 5160displayed on display 112. Text entry areas 5162 are displayed inapplication content area 5160. Soft keyboard 5164 is also displayed ondisplay 112.

The device detects (1204) a drag gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceat a location that corresponds to the input area on the display. Forexample, in FIG. 5UU, drag gesture 5166 is detected on display 112. Draggesture 5166 starts from position 5166-1, which is located in softkeyboard 5164.

The device, in response to detecting the drag gesture, moves (1206) theinput area on the display in accordance with the drag gesture. Inresponse to detection of drag gesture 5166, soft keyboard 5164 is movedin accordance with drag gesture 5166, as shown in FIG. 5VV.

The device detects (1208) a flick gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceat a location that corresponds to the input area on the display. Forexample, in FIG. 5WW, gesture 5168 is detected on display 112. Gesture5168 starts from a location corresponding to soft keyboard 5164.

The device, in response to detecting the flick gesture, moves (1210) theinput area on the display with inertia in accordance with the flickgesture such that the input area comes to rest at a location adjacent toand just below a text entry area in the application content area.

In other words, when a drag gesture is applied to the input area, theinput area tracks (follows) the movement of the finger making the draggesture. When lift-off of the finger making the drag gesture isdetected, the movement of the input area stops. In contrast, when aflick gesture is applied to the input area, the input area is ‘thrown’in the direction of the flick gesture with some simulated inertia andfriction, so the input area does not stop at a location that correspondsto where lift-off of the finger making the flick gesture occurred.Instead, the input area continues to move in the direction of the flickgesture, gradually slows down, and comes to rest at a location adjacentto and just below a text entry area in the application. Thus, animprecise flick gesture results in automatic, precise placement of akeyboard just below a text entry area in an application, whereas a moreprecise drag gesture enables a user to manually position the text entryarea.

For example, in FIGS. 5WW-5XX, in response to gesture 5168, softkeyboard 5164 moves with trajectory 5170, including movement inertia, inaccordance with gesture 5168. Soft keyboard 5164 comes to rest adjacentto and below text entry area 5162-F; soft keyboard 5164 docks just belowtext entry area 5162-F.

In some embodiments, moving the input area on the display with inertiain accordance with the flick gesture includes calculating (1212) atrajectory of the input area based on the flick gesture, searching(1214) for one or more text entry areas in the application content areathat meet predefined candidate criteria, and, when one or more candidatetext entry areas are found, identifying (1216) a respective candidatetext entry area as the text entry area that the input area will come torest adjacent to and just below and adjusting the trajectoryaccordingly. For example, in FIGS. 5WW-5XX, trajectory 5170 withtermination point 5171 is calculated based on gesture 5168. One or moretext entry areas 5162 in application content area 5160 that meetpredefined criteria (e.g., within a predefined distance from terminationpoint 5171) are searched. Among candidates text entry areas that arefound, one (e.g., 5162-F) is selected as the text entry area under whichsoft keyboard 5164 will come to rest. Trajectory 5170 is adjusted sothat soft keyboard 5164 comes to rest under text entry area 5162-F.

As another example, in FIGS. 5YY-5ZZ, trajectory 5174 with terminationpoint 5175 is calculated based on flick gesture 5172. One or more textentry areas 5162 in application content area 5160 that meet predefinedcriteria (e.g., within a predefined distance from termination point5175) are searched. Among candidates text entry areas that are found,one (e.g., 5162-A) is selected as the text entry area under which softkeyboard 5164 will come to rest. Trajectory 5174 is adjusted so thatsoft keyboard 5164 comes to rest under text entry area 5162-A.

In some embodiments, identifying one of the candidate text entry areasas the text entry area that the input area will come to rest adjacent toand just below includes selecting (1218) a respective candidate textentry area that is closest to a termination point of the trajectory asthe text entry area that the input area will come to rest adjacent toand just below. For example, in FIG. 5YY, text entry area 5162-A isselected as the text entry area under which soft keyboard 5164 come torest; text entry area 5162-A is closest to termination point 5175. In5ZZ, soft keyboard 5164 comes to rest adjacent to and under text entryarea 5162-A.

In some embodiments, the respective candidate text entry area isidentified as the text entry area that the input area will come to restadjacent to and just below based on proximity of the respectivecandidate text entry area to a termination point of the trajectory(1220). For example, in FIG. 5YY-5ZZ, text entry area 5162-A is selectedas the text entry area under which soft keyboard 5164 comes to restbased on the fact that it is the closest among text entry areas 5162 totermination point 5175.

In some embodiments, the trajectory is calculated based on simulatedphysical properties of the input area (1222). For example, one or moresimulated physical properties are associated with application contentarea 5160. Examples of simulated physical properties include propertiesthat affect the motion of an object, such as density, frictioncoefficient, and so forth. Values for the properties are predefined. Atrajectory (e.g., trajectory 5170) is calculated based on the propertiesand the corresponding gesture (e.g., gesture 5168).

In some embodiments, the candidate criteria are met for a respectivetext entry area if the respective text entry area is within a predefineddistance of a termination point of the trajectory (1224). For example,in FIG. 5YY, text entry areas that are within a predefined distance(e.g., distance 5177) from termination point 5175 are identified ascandidate text entry areas under which soft keyboard 5164 may come torest in accordance with trajectory 5175. Text entry areas 5162-A and5162-B are within distance 5177 and are thus identified as candidatetext entry areas.

FIGS. 13A-13B are flow diagrams illustrating a method 1300 ofreconfiguring an integrated input area in accordance with someembodiments. The method 1300 is performed at an electronic device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3, or portable multifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the displayis a touch screen display and the touch-sensitive surface is on thedisplay. In some embodiments, the display is separate from thetouch-sensitive surface. Some operations in method 1300 may be combinedand/or the order of some operations may be changed.

As described below, the method 1300 provides an intuitive way toreconfigure the sizes and positions of the left side and right side of asoft split keyboard in an integrated input area. The method isparticularly useful when a user is performing two-thumb typing with atablet computer (e.g., when the tablet computer is being held by theuser's remaining eight fingers). The method makes it fast and easy for auser to customize a split keyboard in an integrated input area to thesize of the user's thumbs, thereby creating a more efficienthuman-machine interface. For battery-operated electronic devices, usinga split keyboard that is customized to the size of the user's thumbsenables the user to perform character entry faster and more efficiently,thereby conserving power and increasing the time between batterycharges.

The device concurrently displays (1302) on the display a first textentry area, and an integrated input area, the integrated input areaincluding a left portion with a left side of a split keyboard, a rightportion with a right side of the split keyboard, and a center portion inbetween the left portion and the right portion. For example, in FIG.5AAA, text entry area 5002 and integrated input area 5039 are displayed.Integrated input area 5039 includes left split keyboard portion 5039-A,right soft keyboard portion 5039-B, and center area 5039-C between leftand right portions 5039-A and 5039-B.

The device detects (1304) a first input on the touch-sensitive surface.In some embodiments, the first input is by a first thumb and a secondthumb, distinct from the first thumb, on the touch-sensitive surface(1305) (e.g., a single tap gesture by the first thumb concurrent with asingle tap gesture by the second thumb; a double tap gesture by thefirst thumb concurrent with a double tap gesture by the second thumb; ora swipe gesture by the first thumb concurrent with a swipe gesture bythe second thumb). In some embodiments, the first input is detected at alocation on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the locationof the integrated input area on the display. For example, returning toFIG. 5AA, gesture 5176 is detected in split soft keyboard 5039. Gesture5176 includes concurrent thumb contacts 5176-A and 5176-B on display112.

In response to detecting the first input, the device enters (1306) areconfiguration mode for the integrated input area. In response todetection of gesture 5176 (FIG. 5AAA), for example, device 100 enters areconfiguration mode for integrated input area 5039. While inreconfiguration mode, device 100 is receptive to one or more gesturesfor resizing portions of the split keyboard in integrated input area5039. One advantage of having a distinct reconfiguration mode for theintegrated input area is that this prevents the split keyboard frombeing accidentally reconfigured when the user is thumb typing.

While in the reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area, thedevice detects (1308) a second input by the first thumb and/or thesecond thumb. In response to detecting the second input, the deviceadjusts (1310) the size of at least one of the left side and the rightside of the split keyboard in the integrated input area.

While in the reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area, thedevice detects (1312) a third input. In some embodiments, the thirdinput is by the first thumb and/or the second thumb (e.g., a single tapgesture by the first thumb concurrent with a single tap gesture by thesecond thumb; a double tap gesture by the first thumb concurrent with adouble tap gesture by the second thumb; or a swipe gesture by the firstthumb concurrent with a swipe gesture by the second thumb). In responseto detecting the third input, the device exits (1314) thereconfiguration mode for the integrated input area. In some embodiments,the third input is detected at a location on the touch-sensitive surfacethat corresponds to the location of the integrated input area on thedisplay.

For example, FIGS. 5BBB thru 5MMM shows various gestures detected whilein reconfiguration mode and the resulting change to integrated inputarea 5039 in response to the respective detected gesture. To take justone of these examples, FIG. 5LLL shows gesture 5188 being detected.Gesture 5188 includes a left thumb moving away from the left edge ofdisplay 112. In response to detection of gesture 5188, left portion5039-A and right portion 5039-B increase in size, as shown in FIG. 5MMM.FIG. 5NNN shows gesture 5190 detected on display 112. In response togesture 5190, device 100 exits the reconfiguration mode, and splitkeyboard portions 5039-A and 5039-B maintain their new sizes.

In some embodiments, the second input includes a horizontal movement ofa left thumb towards a left vertical side of the display, and inresponse to detecting the horizontal movement of the left thumb towardsthe left vertical side of the display, the device reduces (1316) thesize of the left side of the split keyboard. In some embodiments,movement by one thumb adjusts the size of the corresponding side of thesplit keyboard. For example in FIGS. 5BBB-5CCC, gesture 5178 is detectedon display 112. Gesture 5178 includes a left thumb moving horizontallytoward the left vertical side of display 112. In response to detectionof gesture 5178, left split keyboard portion 5039-A reduces in size.

In some embodiments, the second input includes a horizontal movement ofa left thumb away from a left vertical side of the display, and inresponse to detecting the horizontal movement of the left thumb awayfrom the left vertical side of the display, the device increases (1318)the size of the left side of the split keyboard. For example in FIGS.5DDD-5EEE, gesture 5180 is detected on display 112. Gesture 5180includes a left thumb moving horizontally away from the left verticalside of display 112. In response to detection of gesture 5180, leftsplit keyboard portion 5039-A increases in size.

Analogously, in some embodiments, movement by the right thumb toward theright vertical side of the display and away from the right vertical sideof the display decreases and increases, respectively, the size of theright side of the split keyboard, as shown in FIGS. 5FFF-5III.

In some embodiments, the second input includes a horizontal movement ofthe first thumb towards a vertical side of the display closest to thefirst thumb (e.g., moving the left thumb towards the left vertical sideof the display or moving the right thumb towards the right vertical sideof the display), and in response to detecting the horizontal movement ofthe first thumb towards the vertical side of the display closest to thefirst thumb, the device reduces the size of the left side and the rightside of the split keyboard (1320). In some embodiments, movement by justone thumb concurrently reduces the size of both the left side and theright side of the split keyboard. For example, in FIGS. 5JJJ-5KKK,gesture 5186 is detected on display 112. Gesture 5186 includes a leftthumb moving toward the left vertical side of display 112. In responseto detection of gesture 5186, left split keyboard portion 5039-A andright split keyboard portion 5039-B are concurrently reduced in size.

In some embodiments, the left edge of the left side of the splitkeyboard maintains its position (which is typically near the leftvertical side of the display) as the left side of the split keyboard isreduced. Thus, the right edge of the left side of the split keyboardmoves closer to the left vertical side of the display as the left sideof the split keyboard is reduced. This makes it easier for the leftthumb to reach the keys near the right edge of the left side of thesplit keyboard and eliminates the need for the user to reposition theleft edge of the left side of the keyboard after the left side of thekeyboard is reduced. Similarly, in some embodiments, the right edge ofthe right side of the split keyboard maintains its position (which istypically near the right vertical side of the display) as the right sideof the split keyboard is reduced. Thus, the left edge of the right sideof the split keyboard moves closer to the right vertical side of thedisplay as the right side of the split keyboard is reduced. This makesit easier for the right thumb to reach the keys near the left edge ofthe right side of the split keyboard and eliminates the need for theuser to reposition the right edge of the right side of the keyboardafter the right side of the keyboard is reduced.

In some embodiments, the second input includes a horizontal movement ofthe first thumb away from a vertical side of the display closest to thefirst thumb (e.g., moving the left thumb away from the left verticalside of the display or moving the right thumb away from the rightvertical side of the display), and in response to detecting thehorizontal movement of the first thumb away from the vertical side ofthe display closest to the first thumb, the device increases (1322) thesize of the left side and the right side of the split keyboard. In someembodiments, movement by just one thumb concurrently increases the sizeof both the left side and the right side of the split keyboard. Forexample, in FIGS. 5LLL-5MMM, gesture 5188 is detected on display 112.Gesture 5188 includes a left thumb moving away from the left verticalside of display 112. In response to detection of gesture 5188, leftsplit keyboard portion 5039-A and right split keyboard portion 5039-Bincrease in size.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 14 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1400 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described above. The functional blocks ofthe device may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software to carry out the principles of the invention. Itis understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 14 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 14, an electronic device 1400 includes a display unit1402 configured to concurrently display a first text entry area and anunsplit keyboard, a touch-sensitive surface unit 1404 configured toreceive user gestures, and a processing unit 1406 coupled to the displayunit 1402 and the touch-sensitive surface unit 1404. In someembodiments, the processing unit 1406 includes a detecting unit 1408, areplacing unit 1410, an inputting unit 1412, and a display enabling unit1414.

The processing unit 1406 is configured to detect a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1404 (e.g., with the detecting unit 1408),and, in response to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceunit 1404, replace the unsplit keyboard with an integrated input area(e.g., with the replacing unit 1410). The integrated input area includesa left portion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portionwith a right side of the split keyboard, and a center portion in betweenthe left portion and the right portion.

In some embodiments, the integrated input area includes a second textentry area.

In some embodiments, the first text entry area is a text entry area thatdisplays text at a first size, and the second text entry area is a textentry area that displays a portion of the text in the first text entryarea at a second size that is larger than the first size.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1406 is configured to: whiledisplaying the integrated input area, detect a gesture at a location onthe touch-sensitive surface unit 1404 that corresponds to a location ofa character key in the split keyboard (e.g., with the detecting unit1408); and, in response to detecting the gesture at the location on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1404 that corresponds to the location ofthe character key in the split keyboard, input and enable concurrentdisplay of the corresponding character in the first text entry area andthe second text entry area on the display unit 1402 (e.g., with theinputting unit 1412 and the display enabling unit 1414).

In some embodiments, the electronic device 1400 is a portable electronicdevice.

In some embodiments, the display unit 1402 is a touch-sensitive displayunit that includes a touch-sensitive surface unit 1404.

In some embodiments, the gesture is a multifinger depinch gesture at alocation on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1404 that corresponds tothe location of the unsplit keyboard on the display unit 1402.

In some embodiments, the gesture is a tap gesture on a keyboardselection icon.

In some embodiments, replacing the unsplit keyboard with the integratedinput area includes enabling display of an animation that transitionsthe unsplit keyboard to the integrated input area.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1406 is configured to: whiledisplaying the integrated input area, detect a second gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1404 (e.g., with the detecting unit 1408);and, in response to detecting the second gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface unit 1404, replace the integrated input area with the unsplitkeyboard (e.g., with the replacing unit 1410).

In some embodiments, the second gesture is a multifinger pinch gestureat a location on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1404 that correspondsto the location of the integrated input area on the display unit 1402.

In some embodiments, the second gesture is a tap gesture on a keyboardselection icon.

In some embodiments, replacing the integrated input area with theunsplit keyboard includes enabling display of an animation thattransitions the integrated input area to the unsplit keyboard.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 15 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1500 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described above. The functional blocks ofthe device may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software to carry out the principles of the invention. Itis understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 15 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 15, an electronic device 1500 includes a display unit1502 configured to display a first keyboard, the first keyboardincluding a first plurality of keys; a touch-sensitive surface unit 1504configured to receive user gestures; and a processing unit 1506 coupledto the display unit 1502 and the touch-sensitive surface unit 1504. Insome embodiments, the processing unit 1506 includes a detecting unit1508, an activating unit 1510, a replacing unit 1512, a maintaining unit1514, and a disabling unit 1516.

The processing unit 1506 is configured to detect a key activationgesture at a first time at a location on the touch-sensitive surfaceunit 1504 that corresponds to a location of a first key in the firstkeyboard (e.g., with the detecting unit 1508); in response to detectingthe key activation gesture at the first time, activate the first key(e.g., with the activating unit 1510); detect one or more contacts onthe touch-sensitive surface unit 1504 at a second time after the firsttime, the one or more contacts corresponding to a keyboard selectiongesture (e.g., with the detecting unit 1508); and in response todetecting the one or more contacts that correspond to the keyboardselection gesture at the second time after the first time: replace thefirst keyboard with a second keyboard on the display unit 1502 when thesecond time exceeds a predefined period of time after the first time(e.g., with the replacing unit 1512); and maintain display of the firstkeyboard on the display unit 1502 when the second time is less than thepredefined period of time after the first time (e.g., with themaintaining unit 1514).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1506 is configured to: inresponse to detecting the key activation gesture at the first time,disable a gesture recognizer for the keyboard selection gesture for thepredefined period of time (e.g., with the disabling unit 1516).

In some embodiments, the electronic device 1500 is a portable electronicdevice.

In some embodiments, the display unit 1502 is a touch-sensitive displayunit that includes the touch-sensitive surface unit 1504.

In some embodiments, the keyboard selection gesture is a multifingergesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1504 thatcorresponds to the location of the first keyboard on the display unit1502.

In some embodiments, replacing the first keyboard with the secondkeyboard includes enabling display of an animation that transitions thefirst keyboard to the second keyboard.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 16 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1600 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described above. The functional blocks ofthe device may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software to carry out the principles of the invention. Itis understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 16 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 16, an electronic device 1600 includes a display unit1602 configured to concurrently display a first text entry area and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard, and a center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion; a touch-sensitive surface unit 1604configured to receive user contacts and movements of the user contacts;and a processing unit 1606 coupled to the display unit 1602 and thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1604. In some embodiments, the processingunit 1606 includes a detecting unit 1608, and a moving unit 1610.

The processing unit 1606 is configured to detect a first contact on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1604 at a location that corresponds to thecenter portion of the integrated input area (e.g., with the detectingunit 1608); detect movement of the first contact along thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1604 (e.g., with the detecting unit 1608);in response to detecting the movement of the first contact along thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1604, move the integrated input area on thedisplay unit 1602 in accordance with the movement of the first contactwhen the movement of the first contact exceeds a first movementthreshold (e.g., with the moving unit 1610); detect a second contact,distinct from the first contact, on the touch-sensitive surface unit1604 at a location that corresponds to the split keyboard (e.g., withthe detecting unit 1608); detect movement of the second contact alongthe touch-sensitive surface unit 1604 (e.g., with the detecting unit1608); and, in response to detecting the movement of the second contactalong the touch-sensitive surface unit 1604, move the integrated inputarea on the display unit 1602 in accordance with the movement of thesecond contact when the movement of the second contact exceeds a secondmovement threshold, the second movement threshold being greater than thefirst movement threshold (e.g., with the moving unit 1610).

In some embodiments, a respective movement threshold is a function of ahorizontal distance of a respective contact from a vertical centerlineof the integrated input area.

In some embodiments, the integrated input area is constrained tovertical movement on the display unit 1602 and the integrated input areamoves in accordance with a vertical component of movement of arespective contact when a movement threshold for the respective contactis exceeded.

In some embodiments, the left side of the split keyboard and the rightside of the split keyboard maintain fixed positions relative to eachother within the integrated input area during movement of the integratedinput area.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 17 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1700 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described above. The functional blocks ofthe device may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software to carry out the principles of the invention. Itis understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 17 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 17, an electronic device 1700 includes a display unit1702 configured to concurrently display an application content area witha first size, and an input area with a keyboard, the input area beingadjacent to and separate from the application content area with thefirst size, the input area being at a bottom of the display unit 1702; atouch-sensitive surface unit 1704 configured to receive user gestures;and a processing unit 1706 coupled to the display unit 1702 and thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1704. In some embodiments, the processingunit 1706 includes a detecting unit 1708, a moving unit 1710, and anincreasing unit 1712.

The processing unit 1706 is configured to detect a gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1704 (e.g., with the detecting unit 1708);and, in response to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceunit 1704: move the input area away from the bottom of the display unit1702 over the application content area (e.g., with the moving unit1710), and increase a size of the application content area to a secondsize larger than the first size (e.g., with the increasing unit 1712).

In some embodiments, the first size of the application content area hasa first height, the second size of the application content area has asecond height, the input area has an input area height, and the secondheight is greater than the first height by an amount equal to the inputarea height.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 18 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1800 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described above. The functional blocks ofthe device may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software to carry out the principles of the invention. Itis understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 18 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 18, an electronic device 1800 includes a display unit1802 configured to concurrently display a text entry area, a left sideof a split keyboard, and a right side of a split keyboard, the left sideof the split keyboard including a plurality of rows of keys and theright side of the split keyboard including a corresponding plurality ofrows of keys; a touch-sensitive surface unit 1804 configured to receiveuser gestures; and a processing unit 1806 coupled to the display unit1802 and the touch-sensitive surface unit 1804. In some embodiments, theprocessing unit 1806 includes a detecting unit 1808, an entering unit1810, and a foregoing unit 1812.

The processing unit 1806 is configured to detect a gesture at a locationon the touch-sensitive surface unit 1804 that corresponds to apredefined area adjacent to and to the right of a rightmost key in arespective row of the left side of the split keyboard (e.g., with thedetecting unit 1808); and, in response to detecting the gesture at thelocation on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1804 that corresponds tothe predefined area adjacent to and to the right of the rightmost key inthe respective row of the left side of the split keyboard, enter in thetext entry area a character that corresponds to a leftmost key in acorresponding respective row of the right side of the split keyboard(e.g., with the entering unit 1810).

In some embodiments, the predefined area adjacent to and to the right ofthe rightmost key in the respective row of the left side of the splitkeyboard is an undisplayed key activation area that corresponds to theleftmost key in the corresponding respective row of the right side ofthe split keyboard.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1806 is configured to detect agesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1804 thatcorresponds to a predefined area adjacent to and to the left of aleftmost key in a respective row of the right side of the split keyboard(e.g., with the detecting unit 1808); and, in response to detecting thegesture at the location on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1804 thatcorresponds to the predefined area adjacent to and to the left of theleftmost key in the respective row of the right side of the splitkeyboard, enter in the text entry area a character that corresponds to arightmost key in a corresponding respective row of the left side of thesplit keyboard (e.g., with the entering unit 1810).

In some embodiments, the predefined area adjacent to and to the left ofthe leftmost key in the respective row of the right side of the splitkeyboard is an undisplayed key activation area that corresponds to therightmost key in the corresponding respective row of the left side ofthe split keyboard.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1806 is configured to: prior todetecting the gesture, detect a key activation gesture at a first timeat a location on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1804 that correspondsto a location of a visible key in the split keyboard (e.g., with thedetecting unit 1808); and, in response to detecting the gesture at asecond time after the first time: enter in the text entry area thecharacter that corresponds to the leftmost key in the correspondingrespective row of the right side of the split keyboard when the secondtime is less than a predefined period of time after the first time(e.g., with the entering unit 1810); and forego entering in the textentry area the character that corresponds to the leftmost key in thecorresponding respective row of the right side of the split keyboardwhen the second time exceeds the predefined period of time after thefirst time (e.g., with the foregoing unit 1812).

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 19 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1900 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described above. The functional blocks ofthe device may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software to carry out the principles of the invention. Itis understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 19 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 19, an electronic device 1900 includes a display unit1902 configured to concurrently display a first text entry area and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard, and a center portion with a secondtext entry area, the center portion in between the left portion and theright portion; a touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 configured to receiveuser gestures; and a processing unit 1906 coupled to the display unit1902 and the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904. In some embodiments, theprocessing unit 1906 includes a detecting unit 1908, a display enablingunit 1910, an inputting unit 1912, moving unit 1914, an executing unit1916, a selecting unit 1918, a making unit 1920, a formatting unit 1922,and an entering unit 1924.

The processing unit 1906 is configured to: detect a gesture at alocation on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 that corresponds to alocation of a character key in the split keyboard (e.g., with thedetecting unit 1908); and, in response to detecting the gesture at thelocation on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 that corresponds tothe location of the character key in the split keyboard, input andenable concurrent display of the corresponding character in the firsttext entry area and the second text entry area on the display unit 1902(e.g., with the inputting unit 1912 and the display enabling unit 1910).

In some embodiments, the first text entry area displays text at a firstsize, and the second text entry area displays a portion of the text inthe first text entry area at a second size that is larger than the firstsize.

In some embodiments, the width of the integrated input area is the sameas the width of the display unit 1902.

In some embodiments, the left side of the split keyboard and the rightside of the split keyboard maintain fixed positions relative to eachother within the integrated input area during movement of the integratedinput area.

In some embodiments, the second text entry area includes an insertionpoint that remains stationary on the display unit 1902 as text isentered.

In some embodiments, the second text entry area includes an insertionpoint, wherein the processing unit 1906 is configured to: detect agesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a location thatcorresponds to the insertion point in the second text entry area (e.g.,with the detecting unit 1908); and, move the insertion point in thesecond text entry area in accordance with the gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at the location that corresponds tothe insertion point in the second text entry area (e.g., with the movingunit 1914).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: enabledisplay of text editing controls in the center portion of the integratedinput area (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1910); detect a gestureon the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a location that correspondsto a text editing control in the center portion of the integrated inputarea (e.g., with the detecting unit 1908); and, execute a text editingcommand in accordance with the gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceunit 1904 at the location that corresponds to the text editing control(e.g., with the executing unit 1916).

In some embodiments, the text editing controls in the center portion ofthe integrated input area have corresponding text editing controls inthe first text entry area.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: enabledisplay of user-selectable input elements in the center portion of theintegrated input area (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1910);detect a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a locationthat corresponds to a user-selectable input element in the centerportion of the integrated input area (e.g., with the detecting unit1908); and, in response to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface unit 1904 at the location that corresponds to theuser-selectable input element, select the user-selectable input element(e.g., with the selecting unit 1918).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: detect agesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a location thatcorresponds to the center portion of the integrated input area (e.g.,with the detecting unit 1908); and, in response to detecting the gestureon the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at the location thatcorresponds to the center portion of the integrated input area, enabledisplay of a popup view (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1910).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: detect aplurality of gestures on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at alocation that corresponds to the center portion of the integrated inputarea (e.g., with the detecting unit 1908); and, enter in the first textentry area and the second text entry area a character that correspondsto the plurality of gestures (e.g., with the entering unit 1924).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: detect aplurality of gestures on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at alocation that corresponds to the center portion of the integrated inputarea (e.g., with the detecting unit 1908); and, make a drawing inaccordance with the plurality of gestures (e.g., with the making unit1920).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: enabledisplay of a suggested word in the center portion of the integratedinput area (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1910); detect a gestureon the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a location that correspondsto the suggested word (e.g., with the detecting unit 1908); and, executea text editing command in accordance with the gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at the location that corresponds tothe suggested word (e.g., with the executing unit 1916).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: enabledisplay of a plurality of emoji characters in the center portion of theintegrated input area (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1910);detect a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a locationthat corresponds to an emoji character in the plurality of emojicharacters (e.g., with the detecting unit 1908); and, in response todetecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at thelocation that corresponds to the emoji character, input and enabledisplay of the emoji character in the first text entry area and thesecond text entry area on the display unit 1902 (e.g., with theinputting unit 1912 and the display enabling unit 1910).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: enabledisplay of a plurality of unicode characters in the center portion ofthe integrated input area (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1910);detect a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a locationthat corresponds to a unicode character in the plurality of unicodecharacters (e.g., with the detecting unit 1908); and, in response todetecting the gesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at thelocation that corresponds to the unicode character, input and enabledisplay of the unicode character in the first text entry area and thesecond text entry area on the display unit 1902 (e.g., with theinputting unit 1912 and the display enabling unit 1910).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: detect agesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a location thatcorresponds to the second text entry area (e.g., with the detecting unit1908); and, in response to detecting the gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface unit 1904 at the location that corresponds to the second textentry area, select a range of text (e.g., with the select unit 1918).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1906 is configured to: detect agesture on the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at a location thatcorresponds to one or more words in the second text entry area (e.g.,with the detecting unit 1908); and, in response to detecting the gestureon the touch-sensitive surface unit 1904 at the location thatcorresponds to the second text entry area, format the one or more words(e.g., with the formatting unit 1922).

In some embodiments, input elements in the center portion of theintegrated input area are user-configurable.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 20 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 2000 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described above. The functional blocks ofthe device may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software to carry out the principles of the invention. Itis understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 20 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 20, an electronic device 2000 includes a display unit2002 configured to concurrently display an application content area thatincludes one or more text entry areas, and an input area with a keyboardthat is displayed over the application content area; a touch-sensitivesurface unit 2004 configured to receive user gestures; and a processingunit 2006 coupled to the display unit 2002 and the touch-sensitivesurface unit 2004. In some embodiments, the processing unit 2006includes a detecting unit 2008, and a moving unit 2010.

The processing unit 2006 is configured to: detect a drag gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 2004 at a location that corresponds to theinput area on the display unit 2002 (e.g., with the detecting unit2008); in response to detecting the drag gesture, move the input area onthe display unit 2002 in accordance with the drag gesture (e.g., withthe moving unit 2010); detect a flick gesture on the touch-sensitivesurface unit 2004 at a location that corresponds to the input area onthe display unit 2002 (e.g., with the detecting unit 2008); and, inresponse to detecting the flick gesture, move the input area on thedisplay unit 2002 with inertia in accordance with the flick gesture suchthat the input area comes to rest at a location adjacent to and justbelow a text entry area in the application content area (e.g., with themoving unit 2010).

In some embodiments, moving the input area on the display unit 2002 withinertia in accordance with the flick gesture includes: calculating atrajectory of the input area based on the flick gesture; searching forone or more text entry areas in the application content area that meetpredefined candidate criteria; and, when one or more candidate textentry areas are found, identifying a respective candidate text entryarea as the text entry area that the input area will come to restadjacent to and just below and adjusting the trajectory accordingly.

In some embodiments, the respective candidate text entry area isidentified as the text entry area that the input area will come to restadjacent to and just below based on proximity of the respectivecandidate text entry area to a termination point of the trajectory.

In some embodiments, the trajectory is calculated based on simulatedphysical properties of the input area.

In some embodiments, the candidate criteria are met for a respectivetext entry area if the respective text entry area is within a predefineddistance of a termination point of the trajectory.

In some embodiments, identifying one of the candidate text entry areasas the text entry area that the input area will come to rest adjacent toand just below includes selecting a respective candidate text entry areathat is closest to a termination point of the trajectory as the textentry area that the input area will come to rest adjacent to and justbelow.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 21 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 2100 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described above. The functional blocks ofthe device may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software to carry out the principles of the invention. Itis understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 21 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 21, an electronic device 2100 includes a display unit2102 configured to concurrently display a first text entry area, and anintegrated input area, the integrated input area including: a leftportion with a left side of a split keyboard, a right portion with aright side of the split keyboard, and a center portion in between theleft portion and the right portion; a touch-sensitive surface unit 2104configured to receive user inputs; a processing unit 2106 coupled to thedisplay unit 2102 and the touch-sensitive surface unit 2104. In someembodiments, the processing unit 2106 includes a detecting unit 2108, anentering unit 2110, an adjusting unit 2112, an exiting unit 2114, areducing unit 2116, and an increasing unit 2118.

The processing unit 2106 is configured to: detect a first input on thetouch-sensitive surface unit 2104 (e.g., with the detecting unit 2108);in response to detecting the first input, enter a reconfiguration modefor the integrated input area (e.g., with the entering unit 2110); whilein the reconfiguration mode for the integrated input area: detect asecond input by a first thumb and/or a second thumb (e.g., with thedetecting unit 2108); in response to detecting the second input, adjustthe size of at least one of the left side and the right side of thesplit keyboard in the integrated input area (e.g., with the adjustingunit 2112); and detect a third input (e.g., with the detecting unit2108); and, in response to detecting the third input, exit thereconfiguration mode for the integrated input area (e.g., with theexiting unit 2114).

In some embodiments, the first input includes a first thumb and a secondthumb, distinct from the first thumb.

In some embodiments, the third input includes the first thumb and/or thesecond thumb.

In some embodiments, the second input includes a horizontal movement ofa left thumb towards a left vertical side of the display unit 2102; andthe processing unit 2106 is configured to, in response to detecting thehorizontal movement of the left thumb towards the left vertical side ofthe display unit 2102, reduce the size of the left side of the splitkeyboard (e.g., with the reducing unit 2116).

In some embodiments, the second input includes a horizontal movement ofa left thumb away from a left vertical side of the display unit 2102;and the processing unit 2106 is configured to, in response to detectingthe horizontal movement of the left thumb away from the left verticalside of the display unit 2102, increase the size of the left side of thesplit keyboard (e.g., with the increasing unit 2118).

In some embodiments, the second input includes a horizontal movement ofthe first thumb towards a vertical side of the display unit 2102 closestto the first thumb; and the processing unit 2106 is configured to, inresponse to detecting the horizontal movement of the first thumb towardsthe vertical side of the display unit 2102 closest to the first thumb,reduce the size of the left side and the right side of the splitkeyboard (e.g., with the reducing unit 2116).

In some embodiments, the second input includes a horizontal movement ofthe first thumb away from a vertical side of the display unit 2102closest to the first thumb; and the processing unit 2106 is configuredto, in response to detecting the horizontal movement of the first thumbaway from the vertical side of the display unit 2102 closest to thefirst thumb, increase the size of the left side and the right side ofthe split keyboard (e.g., with the increasing unit 2118).

The operations in the information processing methods described above maybe implemented by running one or more functional modules in informationprocessing apparatus such as general purpose processors or applicationspecific chips. These modules, combinations of these modules, and/ortheir combination with general hardware (e.g., as described above withrespect to FIGS. 1A and 3) are all included within the scope ofprotection of the invention.

The operations described above with reference to FIGS. 6A-6B, 7A-7B,8A-8B, 9, 10A-10B, 11A-11D, 12A-12B, and 13A-13B may be implemented bycomponents depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B. For example, detection operation604, and replacing operation 610 may be implemented by event sorter 170,event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in eventsorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and eventdispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 comparesthe event information to respective event definitions 186, anddetermines whether a first contact at a first location on thetouch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub-event,such as selection of an object on a user interface. When a respectivepredefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 180activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of theevent or sub-event. Event handler 190 may utilize or call data updater176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192.In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it wouldbe clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how otherprocesses can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS.1A-1B.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention andvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. An electronic device, comprising: a display; a touch-sensitivesurface; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs,wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configuredto be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programsincluding instructions for: displaying a first keyboard on the display,the first keyboard comprising a first plurality of keys; detecting a keyactivation gesture at a first time at a location on the touch-sensitivesurface that corresponds to a location of a first key in the firstkeyboard; in response to detecting the key activation gesture at thefirst time, activating the first key; detecting one or more contacts onthe touch-sensitive surface at a second time after the first time, theone or more contacts corresponding to a keyboard selection gesture; and,in response to detecting the one or more contacts that correspond to thekeyboard selection gesture at the second time after the first time:replacing the first keyboard with a second keyboard when the second timeexceeds a predefined period of time after the first time; andmaintaining display of the first keyboard when the second time is lessthan the predefined period of time after the first time.
 2. The deviceof claim 1, including instructions for: in response to detecting the keyactivation gesture at the first time, disabling a gesture recognizer forthe keyboard selection gesture for the predefined period of time.
 3. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a portableelectronic device.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the display is atouch-sensitive display that includes the touch-sensitive surface. 5.The device of claim 1, wherein the keyboard selection gesture is amultifinger gesture at a location on the touch-sensitive surface thatcorresponds to the location of the first keyboard on the display.
 6. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein replacing the first keyboard with the secondkeyboard includes displaying an animation that transitions the firstkeyboard to the second keyboard.
 7. A method, comprising: at anelectronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface:displaying a first keyboard on the display, the first keyboardcomprising a first plurality of keys; detecting a key activation gestureat a first time at a location on the touch-sensitive surface thatcorresponds to a location of a first key in the first keyboard; inresponse to detecting the key activation gesture at the first time,activating the first key; detecting one or more contacts on thetouch-sensitive surface at a second time after the first time, the oneor more contacts corresponding to a keyboard selection gesture; and, inresponse to detecting the one or more contacts that correspond to thekeyboard selection gesture at the second time after the first time:replacing the first keyboard with a second keyboard when the second timeexceeds a predefined period of time after the first time; andmaintaining display of the first keyboard when the second time is lessthan the predefined period of time after the first time.
 8. A graphicaluser interface on an electronic device with a display, a touch-sensitivesurface, a memory, and one or more processors to execute one or moreprograms stored in the memory, the graphical user interface comprising:a first keyboard, the first keyboard comprising a first plurality ofkeys; wherein: a key activation gesture is detected at a first time at alocation on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a locationof a first key in the first keyboard; in response to detecting the keyactivation gesture at the first time, the first key is activated; one ormore contacts are detected on the touch-sensitive surface at a secondtime after the first time, the one or more contacts corresponding to akeyboard selection gesture; and, in response to detecting the one ormore contacts that correspond to the keyboard selection gesture at thesecond time after the first time: the first keyboard is replaced with asecond keyboard when the second time exceeds a predefined period of timeafter the first time; and display of the first keyboard is maintainedwhen the second time is less than the predefined period of time afterthe first time.
 9. A non-transitory computer readable storage mediumstoring one or more programs, the one or more programs comprisinginstructions, which when executed by an electronic device with a displayand a touch-sensitive surface, cause the device to: display a firstkeyboard on the display, the first keyboard comprising a first pluralityof keys; detect a key activation gesture at a first time at a locationon the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a location of a firstkey in the first keyboard; in response to detecting the key activationgesture at the first time, activate the first key; detect one or morecontacts on the touch-sensitive surface at a second time after the firsttime, the one or more contacts corresponding to a keyboard selectiongesture; and, in response to detecting the one or more contacts thatcorrespond to the keyboard selection gesture at the second time afterthe first time: replace the first keyboard with a second keyboard whenthe second time exceeds a predefined period of time after the firsttime; and maintain display of the first keyboard when the second time isless than the predefined period of time after the first time.